|
The 54-year-old Frenchman was appointed as
coach of Saudi Arabia in July 2019 and led the country to a
famous 2-1 win over eventual winners Argentina at the World Cup
in Qatar last year.
SAFF said in a statement on Twitter that it had agreed to
terminate Renard's contract at his request, adding that it
wished him "every success in his future career".
"(Renard) has an offer from the French federation and expressed
his desire to take this opportunity," SAFF President Yasser Al-Misehal
told Saudi Sports Channel (SSC).
"We were informed four days before the current international
window and I received a letter from the French Federation, and
consulted with a number of members of the board of directors,
and we decided to accept this request."
French soccer federation (FFF) sacked Corinne Diacre earlier
this month after captain Wendie Renard said she would not play
at the World Cup if the coach remained in charge.
Ranked fifth in the world, France will be looking to win a first
World Cup at this year's showpiece, which is being co-hosted by
New Zealand and Australia from July 20-Aug. 20.
Renard said after a 2-1 friendly loss to Bolivia in Jeddah on
Tuesday that he felt he had taken the Green Falcons as far as he
could.
"I would like to thank everybody in Saudi for their support
during almost four years," he told reporters.
"I think I did the maximum with the team. I can't reach another
level so I prefer to be honest with everybody. Thank you again,
it was fantastic time."
Al-Misehal said SAFF would take their time in appointing a new
coach and would not announce a successor to Renard until June at
least as their next match is in September.
The Saudis will be looking to win a fourth Asian Cup title at
the continental championship in Qatar early next year.
(Reporting by Anita Kobylinska in Gdansk, Osama Khairy and Shady
Amir in CairoEditing by Toby Davis & Shri Navaratnam)
[© 2023 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |
|
