Chile's new football association president says Marcelo Bielsa, the national team coach who has been threatening for three months to resign, is staying on in the job.
Sergio Jadue, who was elected last month as the head of Chilean football, said he met with Bielsa for 15 minutes on Wednesday. He said Bielsa is under contract until 2015. He said the temperamental Argentine indicated he would continue as Chile's coach.
The popular Bielsa led Chile to the second round of the World Cup last year, the country's best result since 1962. Bielsa started talking about resigning in November when Spanish businessman Jorge Segovia was elected president of the national association.
Segovia's election was later annulled, leading to Jadue's election in January.
Jadue told reporters that he waited for seven hours after talking with Bielsa for the Argentine to give him a written response. He received none.
"By not saying 'no,' we interpret the silence as a 'yes,"' Jadue said. "I interpret the silence positively. Marcelo Bielsa is staying."
Bielsa, who was Argentina's former national team coach, is an intense man who seldom grants interviews. His nickname is "El Loco" (The Crazy One).
Segovia defeated Harold Mayne-Nicholls as football association president. Mayne-Nicholls hired Bielsa and the Argentine - who campaigned for Mayne-Nicholls - made it clear he would quit if Segovia were elected.
