Football
Associated Press 8y

Syria's approach to Jose Mourinho played down by top sports official

Syria's top sports official, Muwaffaq Jumaa, has played down his country's approach to hire former Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho as coach of the national team.

Mourinho, who left Chelsea in December, has been linked with Manchester United but, hoping to boost its chances of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, the Syrian soccer federation released a statement earlier this week aimed at the Portuguese coach's management team Gestifute.

"After a meeting including the president of the Syrian Football Association, the vice president and the general secretary, an official offer was agreed and made to the agency of Jose Mourinho to train the Syrian national team," it read.

"It is important for football in this country, at this time, to sign a world class coach to help us reach the World Cup for the first time in our history. We are open for negotiations to reach a deal between both parties."

However, Jumaa insists that the war-torn country is in no position to hire such international names.

"The circumstances don't permit for Mourinho to come here and there are not enough resources for him," Jumaa told the Associated Press. "I wish the national team the best of luck. But we have to adapt to the conditions we are going through."

Syria's civil war is into its sixth year, killing more than 250,000 people and displacing millions. Syria's sports have suffered from years of conflict as stadiums have been hit by the violence, while others serve as refugee centres.

The country's national team, which has never qualified for the World Cup, will play in Asia's third round of qualifying, scheduled to begin in August. They finished second in Group E behind Japan in the second round, with Singapore taking third spot.

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