No more second rate foreign coaches for China - CFA boss

If China decides to hire another foreign coach for its national team it must stump up the cash for the best man available, the new head of the Chinese FA (CFA) said yesterday.

Wei Di, who took over last month when his predecessor Nan Yong was sacked after being arrested on suspicion of match-fixing, said there were no plans to replace current coach Gao Hongbo.

Should that situation change, however, then the likes of former Netherlands, South Korea and current Russian coach Guus Hiddink should be the target, Wei said.

"My attitude towards foreign coaches is that we don't need the second or third tiers ones," he said.

"If we decided to have a foreign coach, he must be a top one. It would not be cheap... but I believe money is not a problem."

Wei invested heavily in top foreign coaches in his previous job as head of water sports at the General Administration of Sport.

China's most recent foreign coach was Serbian Vladimir Petrovic, who was sacked after the team made an early exit from qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.