Al Wasl board insist Maradona axe was 'for the sake' of the club

Bruno Metsu favourite to replace Argentine legend in the Zabeel hotseat as club chiefs admit Al Wasl needs to be playing"to a higher level".

Mohammed Bin Dukhan, the vice chairman of Al Wasl Football Company, said they had to keep emotional feelings out of the decision.

DUBAI // Mohammed bin Dukhan, the vice chairman of Al Wasl Football Company, claims the club bosses got no joy out of their decision to terminate Diego Maradona's contract, but they had to keep their emotions aside for the sake of the team.

The decision to dismiss Maradona mid-way through his two-year contract with Wasl was taken on Tuesday night following a meeting of the club's board of directors, "after a comprehensive study of all technical aspects".

"On a personal basis we were not happy to terminate his contract but we said we should keep the emotional feelings towards the decision out of it," Bin Dukhan said yesterday at a news conference to explain the reasons for the decision. "We are working for the sake of Wasl and we will appoint the next coach to take the club to a higher level."

The former UAE national team coach Bruno Metsu's name is at the forefront of likely candidates to replace Maradona, but, contrary to certain media reports, Bin Dukhan said the club were not considering the likes of Harry Redknapp or Sven Goran Eriksson.

"Metsu is one of the names available on the Wasl table and we hope to make a decision by next week on the new coach. We have four or five names on the tables, but Eriksson and Redknapp are not among them.

"We have made no contact with them and we are not looking for a big name, but a technical coach who can make Wasl a champion side again."

Winfried Schafer, the former Al Ahli and Al Ain boss, has also put his name on the table, while the agents of the Scotsman Walter Smith, and Englishmen Tony Adams and Paul Ince have also expressed their interest.

"I saw the news about Al Wasl and it would be an honour to be linked with such a big club like Al Wasl," Schafer said. "As you know I'm always following the [UAE] league and I had a great and successful time in UAE.

"Let's see what happen in the next days and I can say that would be a big pleasure to work in emirates again."

Rumours of Maradona's departure have been circulating since Wasl's disappointing loss in the GCC Cup final to Bahrain side Al Muharraq. They had won the first-leg in Bahrain 3-1, but lost the return game at home 3-1 and Muharraq clinched the title in the penalty shootout.

Bin Dukhan said that result had played a big part in the board's decision, though Dr Mohammed Ahmad bin Fahad, the chairman of the club and Wasl football company, had insisted Maradona would continue less than four weeks ago.

"When Mohammed bin Fahad said Maradona will continue, his contract had not been terminated," Bin Dukhan.

"So, the chairman could not have said that. We have made this decision now after a comprehensive study and I believe we have made the decision at the right time.

"There was no delay in making the decision. We took the right channel, called his legal representative and informed him of the decision.

"It took us time to evaluate the whole situation and then make this decision."

Bin Dukhan claimed the club and Maradona were parting on good terms and Wasl had arranged a "farewell ceremony" for the Argentine legend, which will "reflect the unique and strong relationship between us".

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