Football | Russia coach Fabio Capello leaves after run of poor form

Fabio Capello left his post as Russia coach yesterday after a poor run of form put the 2018 World Cup hosts in danger of failing to qualify for next year’s European Championship.
The Russian Football Union said it had reached an agreement with Capello “to end the labor contract by mutual agreement.” The organization did not disclose the financial terms of the settlement but expressed gratitude to Capello for his work.
Capello leaves after three years in charge of Russia’s national team. He had planned to coach Russia at the World Cup in 2018, but came under pressure when his team failed to get out of the group stage at last year’s tournament in Brazil. He also faced criticism from Russian politicians over the size of his salary, a reported 7 million euros (USD7.7 million) a year.
He has won only two of his last 10 competitive matches, including a 1-0 loss to Austria last month that left the team in danger of failing to reach Euro 2016. Russia is third in its qualifying group, outside the automatic qualification places.
The 69-year-old Italian, who has also coached England, AC Milan and Real Madrid, has previously said he expected Russia to be his final job in soccer.
The Russian Football Union’s deep debts had sparked speculation that it could not afford to fire Capello given the size of the compensation involved, reportedly more than 21 million euros ($24 million).
Capello frequently went unpaid while coaching Russia, including a spell of almost eight months until February, when the back pay was cleared by a loan to the RFU from billionaire Alisher Usmanov, who also reportedly cleared another pay stoppage in June.