体坛英语新闻：Russian coach Hiddink close to Chelsea job

LONDON, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Russian coach Guus Hiddink is likely to manage Chelsea till the end of the season after Russian football chiefs gave him greenlight to combine the two roles on Tuesday.

    The Russian Football Union (RFU) confirmed in a statement that they had no objection against the Dutchman doing both jobs while Chelsea, who fired former Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari on Monday, are hoping to finalize a deal before Saturday.

    "The English side (Chelsea) has offered Hiddink to coach Chelsea until the end of this English Premiership season in May," the statement on the RFU website said.

    "We are ready to agree with this proposal if coaching of the Russian national squad remains a matter of top priority for the Dutch coach."

    Hiddink has revealed that his personal relationship with Chelsea's owner Roman Abramovich led to his nodding for the post and he is ready for a double role which he had played years before.

    "If it was any other club my answer would be a straight 'no', but Chelsea is different," the 62-year-old said at a Russian training camp in Turkey.

    "I have good relations with the owner Roman Abramovich. I would like to help them if I could.

    "I've already done that (combining two jobs) a couple of years ago when I was coaching Australia and PSV (Eindhoven) so I'm familiar with the situation and what it takes."

    Abramovich, a Russian billionaire, reportedly paid five million dollars of his own money last year to guarantee Hiddink's salary as Russia coach.

    However, Hiddink stressed his full commitment to helping Russia qualify for the 2010 World Cup.

    "This would only be for the next two or three months until the end of the season. I will not leave my job with the Russian national team. It's out of the question.

    "When I took the Russia job it was a long-term project and I don't like to leave it unfinished," he added.

    Hiddink had brilliant achievements in his last three jobs with Netherlands, South Korea and Australia and is working to lead a different team into the World Cup for a fourth successive time.

    The RFU also insisted that Hiddink would remain as the country's manager until the end of 2010 World Cup.

    Russia have two World Cup qualifiers over the course of the rest of the Premier League season - at home to Azerbaijan on 28 March and away to Liechtenstein four days later.

    Earlier on Tuesday, Chelsea thanked the Russian football association for giving them permission to talk to Hiddink.

    "Chelsea Football Club can confirm it has officially approached the Russian Football Union (RFU) for permission to speak to Guus Hiddink to become the club's temporary coach until the end of the season while continuing to be in charge of the Russian national team," the club said in a statement.

    Chelsea have seen sacking of four managers, including Inter Milan boss Jose Mourinho, since Abramovich's arrival in 2003. Scolari was fired following a poor run of results which left the team all but out of the league title race.

    Chelsea will travel to Championship strugglers Watford in the FA Cup fifth round on Saturday, but Hiddink is understood not likely to be present.

    Hiddink led the Netherlands to a fourth place finish in the 1998 World Cup, South Korea to the same position four years later and took underdogs Australia to the second round in 2006. Russia's historical breakthrough to the Euro 2008 semifinals was his latest feat.

    At the club level, he won domestic and European club titles with PSV Eindhoven.