(Reuters) - Spanish coach Jose Antonio Camacho has been sacked by China after a dismal and expensive two-year spell in charge, the CFA said on Monday.
The former Real Madrid and Spain coach oversaw three home friendly defeats in June, including an embarrassing 5-1 thrashing by Thailand, and suffered an early exit in World Cup qualifying last year.
"Having consulted with related parties and informed coach Camacho, the authority made a primary decision of terminating the cooperation with the Spaniard," the Chinese Football Association (CFA) said in a statement carried by the state news agency Xinhua.
"Details are yet to be negotiated with Camacho. The seeking for his successor has been initiated."
Appointed in August 2011, Camacho lost 11 of his 20 matches in charge of the national team, including a record 8-0 defeat by Brazil in September.
His bid to help China qualify for only a second World Cup finals ended early last year when his side were beaten to one of the 10 places in the fourth round of Asian qualifiers by Jordan and Iraq.
The team also slumped to a record low of 109 in the FIFA rankings last March with fans long calling for his removal.
Xinhua said Camacho was on a reported 2.8 million euros (2.39 million pounds) a year salary and would receive a pay off of around 3 million euros after cutting short his contract just over a year early.
China take on South Korea, Australia and Japan in the East Asian Cup in July before resuming their qualification bid to reach the 2015 Asian Cup later in the year.
(Reporting by Patrick Johnston in Singapore; Editing by John O'Brien)
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