Experts: Chinese footballers "lack quality"

A panel of Chinese Football Association-approved experts has decreed that Chinese footballers "lack quality" and should be put on a specialized training regimen.

The comments came after the CFA revealed it had set up a pool of 64 players, with the aim of analyzing the technical characteristics of Chinese footballers at different ages.

A CFA statement released on Monday revealed that players have been mainly drawn from Chinese Super League clubs.

However, it added that leading experts had drawn disappointing conclusions from their analysis of the players last week.

"After technical analysis of these players, our experts found that they generally lack quality and need specialised and systematic training," the statement said.

Chinese football's governing body has also made a separate list of eight young players who will be "closely observed and assessed".

The CFA aims to set up various other pools, including one for Chinese players playing abroad, in order to keep track of their development.