Dubai The new president of the UAE Football Association has rubbished a UK newspaper report claiming that former England manager Fabio Capello has been offered the chance to become the new national team coach.
Yousuf Al Sarkal, who also refuted claims that Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning coach Marcello Lippi had previously been offered the job, also said any appointment would only be made until after this summer’s Olympic Games.
False claims
He was speaking following a report in yesterday’s Daily Telegraph, which claimed Capello, who resigned from his England role in February, had been offered the UAE manager’s job.
Al Sarkal said: “Nothing that has appeared or has been appearing in various sections of the media is true. We have not signed anyone as the new coach for the senior football team and we are not even in the process of contacting anyone. I have read the Daily Telegraph report and watched the news as well. This news is absolutely false.”
Speculation
The FA chief also hit out at claims made by Lippi, who has become the new coach of Chinese champions Guangzhou Evergrande, that he had been offered the UAE job.
“We did not even contact him about taking over the UAE team,” he said. “These people put up such claims as they want to raise their contract values.”
He added that the team’s âprime concern’ was the forthcoming Olympics and therefore any speculation about a new coach is just a âdistraction’.
“There will be no coach for the UAE senior team until after the Olympics,” Al Sarkal insisted.
