Santiago, Jan 23 (IANS) Chile midfielder Marcelo Diaz has announced that publicity surrounding coach Jorge Sampaoli’s contract with the national football federation led to his departure.
The Argentinian coach officially resigned from Chile’s national team earlier this week. The decision came after two months of uncertainty surrounding his future with the team.
The coach recently expressed a desire to leave after his contract was made public and the president of the National Association of Professional Football of Chile (ANFP), Sergio Jadue, resigned due to his involvement in the FIFA corruption scandal.
“Things became ugly. Sampaoli felt unwelcome and that came about by giving more details than perhaps we should have done to the people. In my opinion, they (the people) have no business knowing about contracts. They are private and should be kept under lock and key,” Xinhua quoted Diaz as saying on Friday.
“From the world of sport, there was nowhere to change to. But he had already said some time ago that he wanted to leave the national team so therefore it wasn’t too much of a shock. He simply managed to reach the agreement that he wanted and that the ANFP didn’t want but it is unfortunate the process was cut short,” added the Celta de Vigo central midfielder.
“Unfortunately he chose this path and what a shame. What a shame for the national team because the status that we obtained took a lot (of effort).”
The central midfielder expressed his concern for the upcoming World Cup Russia 2018 Qualifiers.
“It is very difficult. Argentina need points and we already know how we get on in Venezuela. Hopefully what comes is beneficial to us because we all need to be on the same page,” concluded Diaz.