The sudden disappearance of Yu Hongchen, president of the Athletics Federation, was not solely due to his connections in the federation, but stemmed from his wrongdoings during his tenure as vice-president of the Chinese Football Association (CFA). On the fifth day after Hongchen was taken away, the national soccer team unexpectedly lost 1-5 to Thailand in a warm-up match, and the real reason for Camacho's departure was revealed.
Yu Hongchen was deeply involved in Chinese soccer for a long time before he became the chairman of the Athletic Federation. He first started as the deputy director of the Football Management Center, then became the chairman of the Chinese Super League Company, and was promoted to vice chairman of the Football Association two years later. Back then, it was Yu Hongchen who personally led the team to the European elections when he witnessed the national soccer team's 1-5 defeat to Thailand's Camacho at the Hefei Stadium. Yu Hongchen's dereliction of duty directly led to Camacho's dismissal, for which the FA paid 50 million yuan in compensation.
The glory of Camacho's playing days does not hide the bleakness of his coaching career. Nonetheless, he was hired by the CFA at a high salary of 35 million yuan per year. Mind you, this was a figure from 12 years ago, and today, such a salary level still doesn't lose out to Lippi. But Lippi has at least led his team to a World Cup title and has achieved great success in the Chinese Super League. And Camacho, what achievements has he had? None, but his annual salary is incredibly comparable to that of a top coach.
Camacho's annual salary was as high as 35 million dollars, and his team's tax rate was as high as 45% based on China's 7-tier over-accumulation tax rate. However, Camacho's team did not pay this tax, but it was borne by the CFA. In other words, the CFA needs to pay 65 million yuan a year to cover Camacho's salary and taxes. In addition, the CFA needs to spend 200,000 yuan per month to rent a mansion.
It is unbelievable that the CFA has invested nearly 70 million RMB, but it has no demands on the results of Camacho's coaching. Using modern language to describe Camacho's national soccer coaching career, it is undoubtedly "sit back and enjoy the benefits". As long as the contract is in hand, Camacho can easily earn nearly 40 million yuan a year.
After Camacho took over, the national soccer team's performance was unsatisfactory, even less than his predecessor Gao Hongbo. This caused widespread discontent among the players.203 On June 15, 2003, the national soccer team faced Thailand in Hefei, Anhui Province. Although the national soccer team was mediocre that year, it should not have lost against Thailand. However, the end result was a 1-5 defeat for the national soccer team, and Camacho was sacked by the FA as a result.
As the contract signed between Camacho and the CFA did not set performance requirements, the CFA had to pay liquidated damages in order to let him go. In the end, the CFA paid Camacho 50 million yuan in liquidated damages, which became the final solution to the incident.
After several years of Camacho coaching the national football team, and hundreds of millions of dollars invested by the Football Association, the national football team has become weaker and weaker, losing 1-5 to Thailand. Some have blamed this on Yu Hongchen's inaction, but now the Discipline Inspection Commission has announced that Hongchen is suspected of a serious breach of discipline. It is not yet known whether Yu Hongchen received favors in signing Camacho's contract. As fans have asked, who actually pays the rent on that 200,000 yuan mansion?
