UAE FA set to meet to discuss manager Ivan Jovanovic's future

The Serb was appointed in December tasked with guiding the team through to the next phase of qualification for the 2022 World Cup

Ivan Jovanovic, centre, was appointed UAE manager in December but fired before taking charge of a game. Antonie Robertson / The National

The Football Association will convene a meeting next week with Ivan Jovanovic to discuss both the UAE manager's plan going forward and his future with the national team.

The Serb was appointed in December on a six-month contract, tasked with guiding the team through to the next phase of qualification for the 2022 World Cup.

However, the final two rounds of qualifiers were postponed earlier this month because of the coronavirus outbreak, meaning Jovanovic has yet to oversee a match.

The new national team committee are expected to discuss with Jovanovic his strategy up until the conclusion of the second round of qualification, with the former Al Nasr manager believed to have significant support to remain in his role. Although the new dates have yet to be decided, the rescheduled qualifiers seem set to fall between September and November.

That said, the FA are open to assessing a number of options, including considering other candidates for Jovanovic’s position, with emphasis on coaches with previous experience of managing in international football.

Chief to those discussions will be Mohammed Obaid Hammad, the former Al Ain board member and previously a mainstay of the national team backroom staff, who on Tuesday was confirmed as the new supervisor of the first team.

The UAE were originally expected to host Malaysia in Dubai last Thursday and then face Indonesia away on Tuesday, with their remaining two qualifiers coming in June. Currently, they sit fourth in a five-team Group G, five points off leaders Vietnam, although they have played a game less than their rivals.

Jovanovic, 57, was chosen as Bert van Marwijk’s successor in late December primarily because of his work across two spells with Nasr and his knowledge of the Arabian Gulf League.

He spent more than three years at Al Maktoum Stadium initially from June 2013, ending the club’s 25-year wait for silverware by capturing three trophies in two seasons. His second stint was less successful, though, with Jovanovic dismissed in late 2018 after less than a year in charge.