The appointment of a new president of the Russian football union
could pave the way for Guus Hiddink to leave his coaching post,
according to a representative of the Dutchman.
The former Chelsea and Real Madrid boss is currently a target
of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), who are seeking a
high-profile coach to lead them in this summer's World Cup after
Shaibu Amodu was dismissed last Friday.
A special technical committee has been convened with the task
of drawing up a short-list from six names - Hiddink, current Bayern
Munich boss Louis van Gaal, Englishman Peter Taylor, ex-Ghana coach
Ratomir Dujkovic, Qatar chief Bruno Metsu and Egypt's Hassan
Shehata
With the appointment of Sergei Fursenko as the new supremo of
the Russian Football Union (RFU) last week, Hiddink may now be open
to other offers.
"Currently there is a new president at the Russia Federation
and that might change the situation a bit," the 63-year-old's
representative Cees van Nieuwenheizen said.
"Already he has received offers from other countries who want
him to take them to the World Cup.
"One of them is North Korea. Guus did not want to go anywhere
because he did not qualify Russia for the World Cup, but now with
the new president things might have changed."
However, Van Nieuwenheizen reiterated that Hiddink was fully
committed to his current role and any possibility of a move would
have to receive the green light from the RFU.
He told kickoffnigeria.com: "Guus is a loyal employee of the
Russian Football Federation.
"He has a contract until July 15 and he never breaks a
contract.
"If, and I say if because we have not been officially
contacted by the Nigeria federation, if we get such an offer we
will have to discuss it with the Russian Federation.
"If there could be an agreement with the Russian Federation,
then Guus could consider the situation."
One stumbling block could be Hiddink's high salary, but Van
Nieuwenheizen added: "This is a sporting challenge that Guus would
see as a great opportunity to be back on the highest platform of
global football with a strong team such as Nigeria.
"From that perspective, it could challenge him. Then he would
go more for the sporting challenge than the financial challenge."
Van Gaal ruled himself out of the running for the job at the
weekend, meaning he will not be on what is expected to be a final
three-man shortlist expected to be announced on Wednesday.
