Guus Hiddink’s decision to continue as coach of the Russian national football team will largely depend on the new leadership of the country’s football union, his adviser said Friday.
“Let me make it clear that Guus hasn’t quit his job, not yet anyway,” Cees van Nieuwenhuizen said. “His current contract expires in June 2010 and he intends to fulfill it to the end.”
Hiddink’s future has been the major topic in Russian football since the country’s failure to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals after being eliminated by Slovenia in a playoff Wednesday.
The 63-year-old Dutchman has said he would make up his mind in the next few months after failing to guide his team to a major tournament for the first time in his career.
“He needs at least a few days or even a week or two just to clear his mind,” van Nieuwenhuizen said. “Then, he can start thinking about his future. But … it would largely depend on the new leadership of Russian football and what course of actions they would take.”
The national league is facing big changes next year, with Sports, Tourism and Youth Politics Minister Vitaly Mutko announcing last week that he was stepping down as Russian Football Union president. He was forced to resign after President Dmitry Medvedev demanded last month that all top government and Kremlin officials leading various national sports bodies be replaced by full-time professionals.
Hiddink has said he would support Sergei Kapkov, an associate of Chelsea’s billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, who has emerged as the front-runner.
After the Slovenia defeat, some football insiders said the Kremlin might look elsewhere and pick former Zenit president Sergei Fursenko.
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