Japan manager Philippe Troussier, with less than two months left on his contract, is on the verge of being dismissed and is likely to be replaced by Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger or anyone else the Japan Football Association can think of before its next board meeting on May 25.
The situation is somewhat unstable.
Top JFA officials on Friday denied a newspaper report that Troussier is out and Wenger is in. Speculation in the Japanese soccer world has Wenger, the former boss of Nagoya Grampus arriving next summer to take over from a stop-gap replacement. Wenger is under contract with Arsenal until 2002.