Four weekends away from opening group qualifiers for a place in World Cup finals in South Africa in 2010, leading contenders Morocco and Tunisia are still looking for a coach.
Frenchman Jacques Santini, former coach of the French national team, is likely to replace another Frenchman Roger Lemerre at the helm of the Tunisian team, pending approval of few details in sealing the contract.
Earlier this week, newspapers reported the Tunisian Football Federation had met Santini twice in the French capital, but the signing of the contract had been put on hold over who was going to pay his tax bill once becoming Tunisia’s coach.
“There is no more that one or two small details to be settled between the two parties, before signing the contract which should take place within the next ten days,” said a spokesman of the Tunisian football federation.
La Presse said Santini “is expected to receive a basic salary of 33,000 euros a month, as well as housing and transport allowances and frequent free flights back to France.”
The Tunisian Football Federation cannot afford to waste more time as the Carthage Eagles open their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign at home against Burkina Faso on June 1.
Morocco is still struggling to find a successor to Frenchman Henri Michel, who was sacked after a shocking first round exit at the African Nations Cup finals in Ghana in January.
The Moroccan football federation has twice called off a planned unveiling of a national team coach, further keeping both media and football fans in the darkness.
Morocco have been coached by Fathi Jamal temporarily since Michel’s departure. Last March, there were rumours of Baddou Zaki’s comeback to take charge of the team, but nothing materialized.
Zaki lead the Atlas Lions between 2002 and 2005, during which he had an outstanding record of results, but failed to qualify the Atlas Lions to the World Cup of 2006. He managed to build an inexperienced but talented young team which surprised football pundits by finishing runner-up to Tunisia in 2004 African Nations Cup.
In the last few days, Lemerre has been under the spotlight of the Moroccan media amid reports he has spotted several times to Casablanca’s Mohamed V airport in recent weeks.
While awaiting a coach, Atlas Lions will receive Ethiopia on May 31 for the opening of of their first World Cup qualifier.
Tunisia rejects any interference in its internal affairs