Camacho gets €6.4m pay-off

Former Spain boss Jose Antonio Camacho has received €6.4m compensation following his sacking as China national team Coach.

Although the deal has not yet been officially confirmed, Chinese media are reporting that the 58-year-old’s contract stipulated he would be awarded the amount in case of early dismissal.

Camacho, who has also been in charge at Real Madrid, Benfica and Osasuna, was relieved of his duties with China last month after a surprise 5-1 loss to Thailand and had been the target of some criticism by fans and the media in recent months.

Newspaper Titan Sports claims the Chinese Football Association (CFA) had previously told Camacho it was only prepared to pay him €3m, but has now agreed the higher figure plus €3.1m in tax, equivalent to 18 months’ salary.

Hired in August 2011 on a three-year contract, Camacho was initially part of a long-term plan to help China catch up with neighbours Japan and South Korea, as CFA chief Wei Di explained at the time.

“Compared with our neighbours Japan and South Korea, Chinese football is lagging far behind so we need to work with a long-term view and start to catch up with a pragmatic approach.

“A lot of our fans expect China to qualify for the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil. They are afraid that changing the Coach at the last moment may cause bad effect to the team's qualifying prospect.

“I can totally understand that. But we do not have any time to waste,” he explained.

 

 

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