The new head of China's soccer federation has pledged to attack corruption and lift the Asian sporting power's lowly international ranking.

Wei Di said Tuesday the widely disparaged Chinese Football Association faces numerous "difficult hurdles," starting with restoring its public image.

Wei says the leadership must eliminate cheating and bribery. He also says "we should also look to our problems as a chance to start anew."

A sweeping probe of match fixing and bribery allegations has netted more than a dozen players and officials, including Wei's predecessor Nan Yong.

Soccer is widely popular in China, even though the men's national team is ranked No. 97 in the world.

China's soccer scandal continues. And in the latest twist to this murky tale, it's been reported that Chinese players paid huge bribes for places at the national football team's training camp - and even bigger ones to play in international matches. Earlier in the week police detained the China Football Association's former top official, Nan Yong, and deputy Yang Yimin. According to the Oriental Post, a single trip to the national youth squad's camp cost $12,000, while a place at the adult team's camp was priced at $15,000. A call-up to an actual official match required a bribe of $30,000.

Investigators launched a drive against match fixing and corruption last year following complaints from state leaders over poor performance by the national team, which now ranks No. 93 in the world. Last month, 16 team officials and others were arrested on suspicion of bribing or threatening players and referees to determine the outcome of games they had bet on.

No matter what the topic, it seems that accusations of corruption are never far from the news here in China. In the past few weeks alone, corruption has reared its ugly head in everything from soccer match-fixing and the courts to accident cover-ups and the way funds were apportioned for rebuilding parts of Sichuan following the 2008 earthquake.

It's like an incurable disease. Corruption in China is a major source of frustration among Chinese people. President Hu has called corruption the single most important threat to the power of the Communist Party. Yet the problem seems to be growing.

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In the 2010 world cup, both South Korea and Japan have advanced to the knockout stage. As a neighbor of those two countries and a country with the world's largest population, China's soccer team has been widely questioned.

Wei Di, China's soccer chief, back from South Africa where he watched the World Cup games for a way to lift Chinese soccer, believes he has got a clue after witnessing the strong performances of the Asian teams.

Wei, 55, a former track and field athlete specializing in throwing events, was never involved in soccer in his athletic and sports management careers. But he was suddenly appointed to his current post five months ago, tasked with saving the struggling sport in the country that was hit by poor international performances, match-fixing scandals and illegal gambling.

Since September 2007, a scheme backed by the German government has brought the very best in German technology to second-tier cities around China. The fifth exhibition of the series recently kicked off in Wuhan in central China and Mark Dreyer was there to check it out.

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