Tehran, March 4 Belgian coach Marc Wilmots said that he parted company with the Iranian national soccer team after the Iranian officials failed to pay his wages due to U.S. sanctions, the Tehran Times daily reported on Wednesday.
Wilmots quit as head coach of Iran Team Melli, just seven months after replacing Carlos Queiroz at the helm of the three-time Asian champions.
"Two years after parting company with Ivory Coast, I received an offer from Iran last year. It was a great project for the next three years until the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. However, we parted ways at the end of last year because we have not been paid for five months. Besides me, my assistants were not paid," Wilmots said, according to Xinhua news.
"Iran national soccer team has players who are physically strong and skilled. Their Performance Elite Center (PEC) is one of the world's most advanced centers," he went on to say.
"The Iranian national team play more defensively, and I started to introduce more offensive tactics. The start was great. We beat Syria 5-0, we drew 1-1 with South Korea and defeated Cambodia 14-0. After political disputes with the U.S., the atmosphere in the country was getting worse and worse, and above all, the federation was running out of funds," the Belgian coach added.
( With inputs from IANS )