Antic given ultimatum by Serbian FA
BELGRADE - Serbia coach Radomir Antic has been given a Tuesday deadline to accept a drastic pay cut or be fired after they failed to progress past the group stage at the World Cup.
"We will terminate the contract on Wednesday and start looking for a new coach if we don't reach an agreement with Antic," Serbian Football Association (FSS) president Tomislav Karadzic told a news conference on Friday.
Antic steered Serbia to their first major tournament as an independent nation by reaching the World Cup in South Africa but fell from favour when they failed to perform well.
"The FSS has deemed the World Cup result a failure, but we have made progress in talks to sign a revised contract with Antic so we will have one more meeting." Karadzic said.
"It is true that we have been at loggerheads since the World Cup and there are a number of open issues burdening Antic's relations with the FSS, but we have decided to let bygones be bygones and move on if we can."
According to Karadzic, failure to do well at the World Cup deprived the FA of an estimated $10 million in revenue, forcing cost cutting at all levels, including the coach's reported $150,000 monthly income.
Karadzic acknowledged sacking Antic ahead of the Euro 2012 qualifiers would not be ideal.
"We all have to be reasonable and make the best possible decisions for the well-being of Serbian soccer ... appointing a new manager with Euro 2012 qualifiers just around the corner would be a huge risk," he said.
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