The national football squad’s chief coach Henrique Calisto didn’t return to Hanoi on February 4 as he promised and efforts since to contact him have failed.

Two weeks ago the Vietnam Football Federation showed Calisto the draft of a new three-year contract. Accordingly, Calisto would only work with the national squad and his monthly wage would be $22,000 (after tax), plus accommodations and two round trip air tickets from Vietnam to Portugal. The coach had to pay his own personal income tax on his bonus.

Calisto disagreed with the item stating he had to pay tax on his own bonus and asked for more air tickets. He returned to Portugal on January 24 and promised to come back to Hanoi on February 4 and announce his decision.

However, he didn’t return to Hanoi on February 4. The VFF couldn’t contact the coach by phone or email. “Calisto’s phone number in Portugal has been in off-line status for several days. He has not answered our emails, too. This time he booked ticket so we don’t know when will he return to Hanoi,” said a VFF’s official.

VFF’s vice chairman Le Hung Dung, who directly negotiates with Calisto, said that the federation has tried at its best to keep Calisto and now it’s up to Calisto himself to decide what he wants.

PV