Italian World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro has been relieved of his duties as coach of Al-Nassr after just four months, with the club looking increasingly unlikely to defend their Saudi Professional League title.
The 42-year-old -- who previously coached Chinese club Guangzhou Evergrande -- took the reins of the defending champions Al-Nassr last October. However, following a 4-3 defeat to Najran last Thursday, Al-Nassr find themselves in sixth place, 18 points behind league leaders Al-Hilal with just ten games of the season remaining.
.@AlNassrSaudiFCe pull plug on @fabiocannavaro reign after four months > https://t.co/yIqSKgWiga @TheAFCCL pic.twitter.com/Gz6rzeFnOY
- The-AFC.com (@theafcdotcom) February 12, 2016
The website of the Asian Football Confederation confirmed his dismissal, saying that the managerial vacancy he leaves is "far from ideal with the new AFC Champions League campaign on the horizon."
The Qatari club face Iran's Zob Ahan, Qatar's Lekhwiya and Uzbekistan's Bunyodkor in the group stage with the first fixture on 23 Feb.
Al-Nassr, who beat Al-Ahli to the title by four points last season, won just six of Cannavaro's 14 games in charge.