Media reports revealed that officials of the Saudi Jeddah Football Association Club reached an agreement with Argentine coach Marcelo Gallardo to train the team during the coming period.
Gallardo is scheduled to coach the Saudi team, succeeding Portuguese Nuno Santo, who was dismissed from his position due to poor results.
Al-Midan Sports newspaper confirmed that Gallardo has become very close to coaching Al-Ittihad, after reaching an agreement between the two parties during the past hours.
According to the same source, Gallardo will receive an annual salary of 22 million euros from Al-Ittihad Club, becoming one of the highest paid coaches in the world.
Gallardo is 47 years old and has not signed a contract with any club since his departure from the Argentine giant River Plate in December 2022, with whom he won 13 titles over eight years.
In general, Gallardo played 463 matches as a coach, winning 255 matches, drawing 108, and losing 100 matches.
It is worth noting that the results of Ittihad Jeddah Club have declined significantly in the current sports season, as the team occupies fifth place in the Saudi Roshen League table with 24 points, 11 points behind leaders Al Hilal.
Despite the dispute, Moscow intends to continue its contacts with the International Olympic Committee
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed that Moscow does not agree with the International Olympic Committee's position on Russian athletes, but will continue contacts with it.
“We categorically disagree with the approach taken by the International Olympic Committee regarding our athletes in the context of Olympic prospects,” Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
Adding: “We will certainly continue our contacts with the International Olympic Committee no matter what happens.”
Commenting on the International Olympic Committee’s warning to national Olympic committees against participating in the “Friendship Games” scheduled to be held in Russia in the fall of 2024, Peskov explained that sports competitions could be held without the participation of the International Olympic Committee.
The Kremlin spokesman pointed out that “the letter “A” in the abbreviation IOC - International Olympic Committee does not mean a monopoly on the world of sports. The world of sports is multifaceted, and a large number of countries participate in it, and the forms of competition can be different, and the forms of competition can be different. “For competitions to be organized by different countries, all of this can happen outside the context of the IOC, and everyone should realize that.”
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the decision to hold the first World Friendship Games in September 2024 in Moscow.
It is noteworthy that on March 28, the International Olympic Committee recommended that Belarusians and Russians who did not support the Russian special military operation in Ukraine be allowed to compete in a neutral situation.
At the same time, it recommended that athletes from Russia and Belarus linked to their countries' armed forces or security services be excluded from participating in competitions.
The International Olympic Committee also banned Russia and Belarus from holding international competitions in Olympic sports on their territories.