(XU JIAJUN)

Cai Zhenhua has taken over as the highest-ranking official in charge of football in China's sports governing body, the General Administration of Sport (GAS). He replaced 61-year-old Cui Dalin, who has recently retired.

At a meeting on October 25, Cai called for more efforts to burnish the game's image.

A sweeping crackdown on corruption in China's football led to the arrest of a handful of officials, referees and club executives earlier this year, including three former vice chairmen of the China Football Association.

Cai, 49, is a former table tennis world champion. He was appointed head coach of China's men's table tennis team in 1991 and was promoted to head coach of the national team in 1997. Before he was named director of the Table Tennis Administrative Center of GAS in 2004, he had led his players to nearly 40 titles in major international competitions including the World Championships, Olympic Games and World Cup events. He is considered an important contributor to China's international leadership in table tennis since the late 1990s. In 2005, Cai was appointed assistant minister of GAS, and two years later appointed vice minister.