The Chinese sports authority announced Thursday on its Website that CFA chief Yan Shiduo has stepped down.

Yan Shiduo, 53, has been moved as director of the Soccer Administrative Center - the core decision-making body within the Chinese Football Association - to an ineffectual new posting as the chief of the National Sports Training Center.

The position was lying vacant after the retirement of former head Sun Changxin.

In recent times, Yan has faced severe criticism for the national team's abortive 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign and the ongoing chaos in the domestic league. He still holds the post of executive vice president of the CFA but is likely to step down at the next plenary of the domestic soccer governing body, which will effectively end his five-year reign as top soccer boss.

While he has drawn flak of late, Yan's reign saw China make it to the 2002 World Cup Finals - its first - in Japan and South Korea. That was supposed to be the turning point in national soccer. But China failed to impress at soccer's premier event and instead saw its fortune dive further.

Yan will be succeeded by Xie Yalong, a former head of the Chinese Athletics Association. Xie, 49, hit the headlines for clamping down on doping in athletics before the Sydney Olympics in 2000. Most of the athletes were Olympic gold medal hopefuls who had trained under legendary coach Ma Junreng.

His new posting will undoubtedly thrust him back into the limelight with tough challenges that come with the job.

The scandal-tainted Chinese Super League may still go ahead despite a lack of sponsor after German electronic giant Siemens decided against renewing its contract with the league.

Besides, once big-spending clubs have indulged in massive pay cuts and rendered many footballers unemployed, many of them national players. 

(Agencies)