The chief coach of the national team, while happy with much of the three -year contract offered by the Vietnam Football Federation on January 19, is still stalling over minor details.

Coach Henrique Calisto.

VFF’s vice chairman in charge of finance Le Hung Dung represented VFF in negotiating with Calisto. Most contents of the 28-page contract were approved by the two sides in a meeting on January 19.

According to the new contract, Calisto is invited to instruct the national football squad for three years, from April 1 2010. He will receive $20,000 per month, a record pay for a foreign coach in Vietnam.

VFF will pay personal income tax, accommodation and traveling expenses plus two return air tickets between Vietnam and Portugal a year for the coach .

In 2008, under Calisto’s instruction, the national team won the AFF Cup Championship but in the new contract, VFF doesn’t fix any specific achievement that the coach must archive”. Dung said that VFF hasn’t fixed any specific goals because it doesn’t want to put pressure on Calisto and his team.

The contract doesn’t explicitly ban Calisto from working for a club side but Dung said that VFF wouldn’t want this to happen. In the next three years, VFF will have the right to use Calisto’s image. The coach can sign personal advertising contracts as long as they they don’t harm the interest of VFF and its sponsors.

Besides leading the national squad, Calisto will be the technical director of the young national team.

Learning from the contract with former coach Alfred Riedl, VFF added the clause that in case the coach has health problems, the contract may be ended.

Calisto agreed with most of the points in the contract but he didn’t agree with some details related to finance. According to the coach, apart from paying personal income tax for the 20,000 pay a month, VFF has to pay income tax for his bonus. He also wants to have four round air tickets a year.

The coach said he will be returning home and during that time he would carefully consider the contract. When he comes back to Vietnam in early February, he will make decision to sign or not.

VFF’s vice chairman Le Hung Dung believes that Calisto will sign.

PV