May 22, 2002

Argentina hope to placate coach Marcelo Bielsa, who is still battling to claim unpaid wages, by offering him a new deal.

"Without knowing how Argentina will do at the World Cup, we are going to offer Bielsa a new deal," Argentina football federation president Julio Grondona said ahead of the squad's departure to South Korea.

"We have never asked a coach to leave, we always want them to continue," Grondona added.

"I can't say anything about the financial terms because I don't know what state the country will be in when the moment arrives, but I don't have any doubt that Bielsa is the best coach we have ever had.

"Bielsa showed from the first moment that he has a very strong personality and that is very important if you are going to lead so many important international players.

"He never has any doubts about what he is doing and that is excellent."

Over the past month Grondona has been locked in talks with Bielsa, who had threatened to quit over unpaid wages and bonuses reported to total £500,000.

Bielsa, whose contract runs out in December, is owed at least £350,000 in bonuses and has not been paid his full salary for several months as a result of the economic crisis ravaging Argentina.

He is only expected to collect a third of the money he is owed for leading the Albiceleste in Japan and Korea.

Grondona insists that Bielsa's pay dispute stems from the devaluation of the peso and continuing economic hardship in Argentina.

"It is true that we owe Bielsa a lot of money," Grondona said at the end of last month. "We have to pay that money in dollars, but at the moment there are no dollars in Argentina so we can't give him any. We will be able to pay him, though.

"Maybe we can do so in Japan as Fifa will pay us our due in dollars. We have to talk about it with him.

"If he wants the money right away, we will have to pay him in pesos and dye them green so they look like dollars. However, there won't be any problems if he agrees to be paid in a few months.

"We'll do the same with the players. Once we are given the Fifa money, we will pay our coach and the players."

Onefootball