Bielsa will not replace Sampaoli

Argentinian Marcelo will definitely not take over as Chile's new coach as a replacement for Jorge Sampaoli, announced the President of Chilean soccer, Arturo Salah, on Sunday.

"We rule out the Bielsa option. We are looking for more alternatives," said Salah before heading Paraguay to participate in the South American Football Confederation (Conmebol) elections.

Salah, who coached the national team between 1990 and 1993, had already ruled out Bielsa in a letter where, without further explication, he said that it wasn't the right moment for Bielsa to join the club.

The Copa America 2015 champions, are looking for a new coach after Sampaoli's whirlwind departure from the club due to a series of disagreements with the country's current soccer federation. This came about after the former president, Sergio Jadue, controversially resigned in November 2015 due to his involvement in the FIFA corruption scandal.

Sampaoli officially left the club on Jan. 19, weighed down by details of his multimillion-dollar contract becoming public knowledge around about the same time Jadue resigned.

Bielsa, who coached the Chilean national team between 2007 and 2011, successfully led the team through the World Cup South Africa 2010 qualifiers.

Argentinians Eduardo Berizo, the current Celta de Vigo coach, and Alejandro Sabella, former Argentina coach, have been mentioned by local media as other possible candidates.

Chile is worried about the lack of coach situation especially because of the upcoming World Cup Russia 2018 qualifying matches against Argentina and Venezuela in March. Endit