BEIJING (AFP) - Ratomir Dujkovic, the popular Serbian coach of China's Olympic men's soccer team, has been picked to double as skipper of the full national squad, state media reported Wednesday.

Dujkovic, 61, has been named as China's football supremo, a new post that will see him replace Zhu Guanghu, who quit as coach of the full international side after the squad's humiliating first-round exit from the Asian Cup last month, the Titan sports weekly said.

It said China's powerful sports ministry, which controls the Chinese Football Association (CFA), pushed for the new appointment.

However a spokesman for the CFA told AFP a final decision had yet to be reached.

"There are several plans but no decision," spokesman Dong Hua said.

Titan and other media outlets said top CFA officials held a meeting Tuesday attended during which a directive from the sports ministry headed by Liu Peng, also president of the association, was read.

It said Dujkovic, who took over the Olympic squad last October, would take charge of China's national football programme as chief coach, with another coach, still yet to be named, working under him.

"He will be the chief coach of both the full side and the Olympic side, but his main job will still be with the Olympic side," said popular website Sina.com.

Dujkovic has expressed interest in the top job but has previously stated that his first priority was to coach the Chinese under-23 team in next year's Beijing Olympics.

Titan said Dujkovic hesitated when first offered the position, with the Serbian initially saying he would "consider" the offer.

Previous coach Zhu was branded a failure after a string of disappointing performances culminating in China's Asian Cup debacle.