The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has agreed to part ways with coach Jorge Sampaoli after Argentina crashed out of the World Cup in the round of 16, it announced on Sunday. After a full day of negotiations on Saturday, the two sides agreed on Sunday to rescind Sampaoli’s contract. Sources told ESPN Argentina the agreement includes a settlement of $2 million for the coach to leave his role, significantly less than the AFA owed on his original contract.
The decision will end Sampaoli’s tenuous 14-month stint within the organisation and plunges the team into further uncertainty. Sampaoli had been hired from Sevilla in May 2017 to provide stability after the sackings of Gerardo Martino and Edgardo Bauza. AFA president Claudio Tapia said before the tournament that Sampaoli, 58, would remain in charge even if Argentina “were eliminated in the first round of the World Cup,” but according to local reports, tension increased between the federation and the coach in discussions regarding the team’s direction.
That included Tapia’s instruction that Sampaoli, in order to prepare for the future, should take control of Argentina’s under-20 team for an upcoming tournament – a task Sampaoli believed was beneath him. The AFA said a coach for the U20 tournament would be announced on Tuesday. Trainer Jorge Desio and video analyst Matias Manna also left their roles with Argentina.