Eight months after a plan was unveiled aiming to catapult China to a future World Cup title, the nation's high hopes ran aground again on Tuesday as Team China tied Team Hong Kong Special Administration Region in a scoreless qualifying match for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The tie left only a theoretical possibility that the Chinese team would qualify for Russia, depending on results of other teams in the pool stage.

If it misses the thin odds, it will be China's fourth failed World Cup qualifying campaign since its only qualification in 2002, a disappointment in light of President Xi Jinping's well-publicized wish, expressed in 2011, that China would reach the finals again and win.

The State Council approved a national program in March to reform the game's management and make domestic league operations more professional.

Fans and media blamed the reform's slow progress for Team China's disappointing performance on Tuesday.

The Chinese Football Association's website was hacked within hours after the match by an unidentified intruder who manipulated the main page into a letter of complaint. "It's a shame to end up with a tie against a regional team in this humiliating fashion.

The head coach should be fired and the head of CFA should be held accountable," the letter said.

Head coach Alain Perrin of France said he won't resign anytime soon. So far, no CFA officials made public comments.

Soccer commentator Huang Jianxiang called for a reshuffle of China's administrative approach to development, saying the government's grip on the game should be relinquished and the domestic league should be operated free from bureaucratic interference.

As an affiliate of China's sports ministry, the General Administration of Sport, the CFA is mainly composed of government officials who make centralized decisions on almost every aspect of the game, including youth training, national programs and professional league operations.

The State Council urged delinking the association from the administration to make it a full-fledged NGO run by professionals.

"It's time to implement the reform in full swing so that the game will have a bright future at all levels," said Tan Jianxiang, a sports sociologist at South China Normal University.

Despite the setback on the national stage, the recent success of the privately owned top-league club Guangzhou Evergrande provides some comfort for Chinese fans. Evergrande will compete for a second AFC Champions League title this week after winning it in 2013.

The recent 8 billion yuan ($1.26 billion) purchase of the domestic league's TV rights by China Sports Media Co over the next five years also proved investors' long-term confidence in the game's resurgence.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn