Beijing: The Frenchwoman charged with leading China's women's soccer team to the Beijing Olympics has been fired by e-mail, local media reported today.

Elisabeth Loisel, who took over as coach of the former World Cup and Olympic runners-up last October, had a brief and troubled reign marked by poor results and disputes with Chinese Football Association (CFA) staff.

The coach told China Daily from France that she had received an e-mail from the CFA saying her services were no longer required and had cancelled her planned return to China.

"I had doubts when I received the e-mail, so I decided to go to China according to the schedule," she told the paper. "But I knew the truth at the last moment that the e-mail had actually been sent by the CFA. So I think it would not make any difference if I went to China."

Shang Ruihua, 64, will return to the post he last held in the early 1990s and oversee preparations for August's Beijing Olympics, the paper added.

"I have been involved in coaching women s soccer for a long time," he said. "As long as CFA gives me enough time, I am confident I will lift the team to what it should be."

There was no announcement on the Chinese Football Association (CFA) Web site and its spokesman was unavailable for comment. 

Source : UNI