SHANGHAI, Aug. 15 -- A FAMOUS sports anchorman was spotted wearing shorts on a live soccer program, the Fujian-based Southeast Express said today.

The embarrassment was detected by a viewer of a weekly soccer program on China's Central Television Station on Monday.

The football fan nicknamed huangchong84 posted a picture on his blog.

"Duan Xuan was concentrating on his words and couldn't help stretching one of his legs out from behind the table," huangchong84 wrote in the post.

The fan said he had heard that some anchorpersons were dressed in formal clothes above the waist while down below they may often wear only shorts and slippers.

Following the post, many surfers commented that some of CCTV's presenters are not professional.

Jiang Heping, department head with CCTV's sports channel, told the newspaper that the set was not properly designed, which lead to the embarrassment.

"The cameraman should take part of the responsibility as he shouldn't have shot the lower part of Duan," Jiang told the newspaper.

Jiang added that it is normal and OK for Duan or other presenters to dress casually.

Zhao Zhongxiang, a veteran anchorman with CCTV, asked for understanding and consideration from viewers over the issue, the report said.

He disclosed that he also used to dress like this.

Zhao said in the report that the studio lights are very hot and ventilation is poor on such sets, thus many presenters dress like this to stay cool.

However, Zhao warned his counterparts to be more careful and not allow such slip ups in the future, said the report.