Whether or not Japan manager Philippe Troussier's contract will be extended is to be decided at a Japan Football Association executive committee meeting slated for May 25, Kunishige Kamamoto, JFA vice president and chief of the JFA's technical development department for the 2002 World Cup, said Monday in Tokyo.
Kamamoto, speaking to the media after a technical development department meeting that Troussier attended for the first time, said an evaluation of Troussier's performance is expected to be filed to JFA president Shunichiro Okano at the beginning of May. Kamamoto said the issue of Troussier's contract was not discussed at the Monday meeting but they talked about the domestic competition calendar for the national team.
Kamamoto said, "We told him to submit his ideas on the national team preparations -- when and who he'd like to play and train."
"It was a good meeting and I'm optimistic about the future," Troussier said.
The Frenchman also denied a report he was offered a job as manager of the South Korean national team, saying: "I have nothing to do with South Korea. I like Japan, I'm here and I like to work here. My ambition is for Japan. I'll stay in Japan at least until October."
Troussier's current contract runs until the end of June with an option to extend it to the end of October if Japan qualifies for the Asian Cup (Oct. 12-29 in Lebanon). He hopes to renew it through the 2002 World Cup.