Italian first division club Udinese have sacked their coach Luigi De Canio.
De Canio will be replaced on an interim basis by one of his assistants Alessandro Zampa.
It was a protracted exit for De Canio, who first learned that he faced the sack last Monday when the club's chief shareholder Giampaolo Pozzosaid he had been talked out of firing him but that the coach would go if they lost to Parma at the weekend.
Udinese did lose 3-1 to Parma but even then the decision was put on hold until todayand was only reached after a long board meeting.
The club's director general Pierpaolo Marino had quit on Sunday although he has stayed on as a board member while fans illustrated their supportfor De Canio as did the players who mobbed him on the touchline after Stefano Fiore equalised against Parma.
But in the end the coach, who led the northern outfit to the top of the table for the first time in their 104-year history earlier this season, paidthe price for a slump that has seen them drift alarmingly towards the relegation zone.
AFP