Former Chinese national soccer team coach José Antonio Camacho will submit his case to FIFA, the sport's international governing body, after week-long negotiations with the Chinese Football Association (CFA) over tax payments broke down, his lawyer said on Friday.

Camacho's lawyer, Javier Ferrero, sent an announcement to the Xinhua News Agency on Friday, saying that "the CFA failed to fulfill the contract and despite our efforts to find a solution, we still could not reach an agreement."

"So we feel deep regret over the situation and according to relevant articles in the contract, we will seek assistance from world football governing body FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport," said the statement.

According to the Hunan-based Titan Sports, a high-level official from the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RSFF) told the newspaper that they had been informed by Camacho's assistant that the negotiation between Camacho's lawyer and the CFA broke down on Thursday after the CFA refused to fulfill all the terms of the contract. 

A Spanish RSFF official said the CFA would have almost no chance of winning the case if Camacho brings it to FIFA.

When the Global Times contacted the CFA on Friday to confirm that negotiations had failed, an official said the CFA spokesman had gone to Brazil and not yet returned and refused to comment on the issue.

According to Titan Sports, the cause of the breakdown in negotiations was the CFA's refusal to pay as much as 18 million yuan ($2.94 million) in taxes on Camacho's salary after it terminated its contract with Camacho on June 22 following a humiliating 5-1 loss to Thailand on June 15 in a friendly match, which outraged Chinese soccer fans and the general public.

The former Spain and Real Madrid head coach will be compensated 6.45 million euros ($8.36 million) by CFA's sponsor Wanda Group, but the 18 million yuan in taxes is the responsibility of the CFA.

The news led to public outrage and questions over the CFA's unprofessional and negligent behavior in the signing of Camacho's contract.

"It is hard to understand why neither Camacho nor the CFA had mentioned whether the payment was after-tax or before-tax in the contract when they were signing such a big deal. The CFA doesn't need a top coach now but a lawyer who knows international and commercial market rules," China National Radio said.

Liu Ailing, former captain of the Chinese women's soccer team, said on her Weibo account that the officials who signed the contract should be severely punished for the losses it caused.

"Why didn't the CFA use this money for developing youth soccer in China?" Liu asked.

Wang Renwei, a professor at the Shanghai University of Sport, told the Global Times that the CFA should learn a painful lesson from Camacho's case to establish a scientific and cautious system as soon as possible when recruiting national coaches.

"If they can't hire a coach based on a comprehensive mechanism including recommendation, signing, assessment and supervision, it will create a vicious circle," Wang said.