Several FIFA senior officials, including vice president Jeffery Webb, were arrested on Wednesday in Zurich, Switzerland ahead of the 65th FIFA Congress.
On the same day, the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and FIFA renewed collaboration agreement at FIFA headquarters in Zurich, in an effort to create synergies with the Chinese national plan for soccer which was announced earlier this year by the Chinese government.
Despite the unprecedented turmoil within FIFA, China will steadily enhance the cooperation with FIFA and carry out its national soccer rejuvenation plan.
"Through this cooperation, we want to continue making concrete contribution to the future of Chinese football as part of FIFA's core mission, which is to develop the game in its member associations. It is gratifying to see the effort expended by the CFA and the Chinese government on fulfilling China's football potential," said FIFA
President Sepp Blatter at the signing ceremony on Wednesday.
"We appreciate FIFA's efforts in helping China to develop the full potential of football in the country. China has benefited from FIFA's programs for many years at both administrative and technical levels. We will endeavor to broaden the scope of beneficiaries through our full cooperation with FIFA and are confident that we will achieve more in the coming years," said CFA President Cai Zhenhua.
In 2011 China and FIFA signed a similar agreement to raise CFA's in-house capacities and expertise in management and technical areas, including grassroots, youth and women's football.
Between 2011 and 2014, FIFA provided a total of 130 clinics and seminars to CFA, mainly in the fields of technical support, refereeing and management.
Throughout recent years, FIFA and CFA have held regular annual coordination meetings to discuss the upcoming objectives. The last of such meetings took place in May 2015.
China will have to co-operate more deeply with FIFA if the world's most populous country wants to develop the sport quickly and effectively. China's reform plan needs advice and support from FIFA.
China, which was plagued by corruption scandals in the past, also gets a warning and has to learn a lesson from the FIFA crisis.
"Football has been over commercialized. With gambling and manipulation with intermediate agents involved, the game was once out of control," said Wei Jizhong, former vice president of the Chinese Olympic Committee.
He said China really needs to be aware of these risks during its football reform.
Blatter, who won the FIFA presidency for a fifth time on Friday, has vowed to root out any misconduct and ensure that football worldwide is free from wrongdoing.
