Despite flourishing in recent years, poor officiating and fan behavior is holding back the CBA, according to NBA great Yao Ming.

"Our reforms still have to go deeper as we haven't touched the core of the problems within the traditional system," Yao said recently.

The league's inability to respond swiftly to the unruly behavior of fans and players over controversial calls is a major problem which has been continually criticized by Chinese media, which has urged a non-government organization be put in charge of the league.

"We can't only improve technically. We need more changes in management, regulations and training systems (for referees) … That's going to be the hard part of any reforms," Yao said.

sunxiaochen@chinadaily.com.cn