Claudio Ranieri has been put on "a leave of absence" as manager of the Greece national team after a humiliating 1-0 defeat to minnows Faroe Islands on Friday night.
The Euro 2004 winners have managed just one draw in their four Euro 2016 qualifiers to date and fell to Faroe Islands' first victory since 2011, resulting in a wave of criticism for the former Chelsea boss.
And the Greek Federation will now look to terminate his contract after earlier reports, including from the official FIFA site, had suggested the trigger had already been pulled.
A statement on Saturday night read: "Claudio Ranieri and his collaborators are on a leave of absence until the end of 2014. Mr. Kostas Tsanas [currently the coach of the under-21 side] will be the interim coach for Greece's friendly encounter against Serbia on Tuesday."
On Saturday evening, Hellenic Football Federation president Giorgos Sarris also gave a TV interview and discussed the matter: "We will find a way to part with Mr. Ranieri by mutual consent. We both agreed that the team need an electric shock. I am the man responsible for this situation, as I chose Ranieri.
"We were counting on a victory against Faroe Islands to give us time to regroup for spring. But after this defeat, drastic measures were in order. However, it is too soon to talk about his successor."
On Friday night, Greece hinted change was imminent as Sarris wrote on the Federation website: "Following this devastating result for the national team, I take full responsibility for the most unfortunate choice of Coach, which has resulted in such a poor image of the national team being put before the fans."
"The governing board will convene and take responsibility among all the members to make the necessary changes needed to avoid a repeat of such an embarrassing night."
Ranieri, 63, admitted after the game that he had no idea how his side had lost.
"I have no words to explain what happened," he said in a post-match news conference. "We all wanted to record our first victory in the group. But the Faroese deserved to win as they created more chances to score. Only hard work can get us out of this situation.
"When the qualifiers started nobody believed we would find ourselves in this situation. We were wrong in believing that was a straightforward group for us. All defeats hurt equally, but we must leave results in the past and work our way out of this situation.
"We are last in our group because that is what we deserve. The Coach is always responsible for that. Back in September, most of my players were low on form following the World Cup, but this week during training I saw my players very lively and motivated. That's why I am very surprised about the result."