Vietnam national football team head coach Henrique Calisto

The Vietnam Football Federation (VFF) and national team head coach Henrique Calisto on Tuesday reached agreement on important issues to extend the latter’s current contract for another three years.

VFF Vice Chairman Le Hung Dung said, “Both sides were straightforward during the meeting. Sometimes, Calisto went red because he didn’t agree about something; but eventually, both sides agreed on most details. The new contract will last till March 2013.”

According to Dung, both sides still have not agreed about some matters and they need to consult lawyers. For example, for how long can Calisto be on sick leave and still get 100% of his salary and when can he get 70% or lower?

Or in what situations can VFF terminate the contract with Calisto if the Portuguese coach cannot continue his work force majeure?

“The Labor Code of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam will be applied for these situations. We need to make everything clear to avoid unnecessary disagreements later,” Dung said.

“The salary Calisto will get won’t be US$20,000 per month like what some newspapers have said,” Dung said. “But I can’t let you know how much.”

Sources later said the coach’s salary had been doubled to $25,000 a month.

However, Dung added that Calisto’s net salary would be higher than what had been planned earlier. Last week, VFF Chairman Nguyen Trong Hy said Calisto’s monthly salary after tax would be raised from the current amount of $13,000 to $20,000.

Apart from the salary, VFF will pay for Calisto’s accommodation, cooking, travel, phone bills, business trips and air tickets for two visits to his home per year, Dung said.

Asked about the goals of Vietnamese football in the next three years, Dung said VFF had set goals for the ASEAN Football Federation Cup 2010 and South East Asian Games in 2011; but he couldn’t release the information because more discussion with Calisto would be needed.

However, “I want to stress that those goals are not mandatory conditions because it would be very hard for the coach and players. VFF doesn’t want to put heavy pressure on Calisto. The contract just says ‘try to achieve the goals,’” Dung said.

In addition to coaching the national team and the Under-23 team, Calisto is supposed to give advice to younger teams like the Under-17 and Under-20 teams when those teams compete in international contests, Dung said.

Also according to Dung, the contract does not say that Calisto has the right to coach a club.

However, Dung said that VFF won’t stop Calisto from doing extra work as long as it doesn’t affect the time required for the national team and the Under-23 team; and doesn’t hurt the interests of those two teams.

It is expected that VFF and Calisto will sign the contract early next month, Dung said.

Source: Thanh Nien