BRAVEHEART: Zhao Peng (right) with the Henan Jianye club scrambles for the ball during a match against Tianjin TEDA in the Chinese Super Leaque on July 14, 2011 (YUE YUEWEI)

"Appointing Camacho is just part of our long-term revival plan," said Yu Hongchen, Vice President of the CFA. "We hope he can help us to find a suitable style."

Wanda also hopes to reduce referees' temptation to take bribes from soccer clubs by raising their salaries.

In China, almost all the soccer referees and linesmen only work part-time. Referees are paid 1,800 yuan ($263.54) per match if they are summoned to officiate, while the linesmen get 1,200 yuan ($175.7). Out of its own pocket, Wanda plans to pay referees a total of 10 million yuan ($1.46 million) per year.

On the CSL clubs' side, serious money has been pumped into the game. According to CFA statistics, 16 CSL clubs spent more than 2 billion yuan ($292.84 million) in 2011.

After taking over the Guangzhou Evergrande club in late 2010, Xu Jiayin, CEO of the Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd., one of the 10 largest real estate developers in China in terms of annual sales, has spent more than 300 million yuan ($43.92 million) upgrading the club.

In mid-July 2011, Guangzhou Evergrande smashed the national transfer record and signed Argentine Dario Conca, who was named the best player of Campeonato Brasileiro Série A in 2009 and 2010, for 10 million yuan ($1.46 million). Conca was offered a salary of 7 million yuan ($1.02 million) a year.

Previously, the club splashed out 7.5 million yuan ($1.1 million) on Brazilian forwards Cleo and Muriqui.

The club was richly rewarded when they swept the CSL title by 15 points in 2011, just two years after their relegation for match-fixing.

In order to defend the title, Guangzhou Evergrande has announced it would spend more than 100 million yuan ($14.6 million) in the 2012 season.

The club also announced it will partner with Spanish giant Real Madrid to open the world's biggest soccer school in south China's Guangdong Province this year in an effort to develop the country's talent.

A major rival of Guangzhou Evergrande in the CSL, the Shanghai Shenhua club confirmed on December 12, 2011, the signing of Nicolas Anelka from English Premier League powerhouse Chelsea.

The 32-year-old French striker, by far the highest-profile foreign footballer yet to sign for a Chinese club, will officially join the club in January 2012 on a two-year contract, after the winter transfer window opens, Shenhua said in a statement at the end of 2011.

It is reported that Anelka's salary in Shenhua will exceed $300,000 a week.

More encouragingly, the CFA has reached a broadcasting agreement with CCTV-IMG, a joint venture of CCTV and IMG Worldwide.

CCTV ceased its coverage of the CSL in 2010 because of corruption scandals and the generally poor image of soccer in China. The CFA's deal with CCTV-IMG means the domestic league will again be televised nationwide.