Football: morocco to terminate Portuguese coach's contract

The Moroccan football Federation (FRMF) has started talks with the Portuguese coach Humberto Culeho to terminate his contract as coach of Morocco's football team, sources from the federation said.

Cuelho's contract is supposed to end in October, but the parties decided to prematurely terminate the contract.

Cuelho was blamed for failure to make Morocco qualify for the 2002 World Cup, to start late this month in Japan and Korea. He was also criticized for the elimination of Morocco from the first round of the African Nations Cup, held earlier this year in Mali.

No official figure is available on the salary the Portuguese gets from Morocco, but the local press speaks of more than US$ 30,000 monthly in addition to other advantages.

The Moroccan team is currently coached by Baddou Zaki, former keeper of Morocco and winner of the African Golden Ball in 1986.