Decision to reject MFA offer 'not financially motivated'

Dutchman Arno Pijpers is no longer in the running to become coach of Malta after signing a two-year contract to lead Kazakhstan in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign.

Pijpers had been the MFA's no.1 target to succeed Horst Heese but despite showing strong interest in the Maltese offer, he has recently accepted the proposal put forward by the Kazakhstan Football Union.

"I had a couple of offers from different parts of the world," Pijpers, who will quit his role as technical director of Dutch club FC Utrecht on January 10, said when contacted by The Times yesterday.

"It's true that I had talks with the Malta FA, namely with president Dr Joe Mifsud and Mr Horst Heese. We discussed the possibility of my becoming coach of Malta and I was very happy about their interest.

"I was also satisfied with the professionalism shown by the officials from Malta throughout these talks. The bottom line is that I had to make a decision and, after evaluating my options, I chose to become coach of Kazakhstan."

Pressed to spell out the reasons that swayed his decision in favour of Kazakhstan rather than Malta, the 46-year-old Pijpers said: "I preferred the Kazakhstan offer because my private situation dictated so.

"I have been to Malta, I really like the country and the people who showed me around on my last visit were very friendly and helpful.

"However, I also had to consider the needs of my family. My son's studies are very important and I didn't want to disrupt his education in Holland after we had already spent a couple of years in Estonia. I can tell you that there was no financial thinking behind my decision to coach Kazakhstan instead of Malta.

"If I had agreed to become coach of Malta, the whole family would have had to move there but my job in Kazakhstan allows my wife and son to remain in Holland.

"I have explained to Dr Mifsud that at this moment in time, I cannot commit myself to the Malta FA."

Pijpers had been coach of Estonia for nearly four years before standing down in July 2004.

He first came to prominence in 2000 when he led the Netherlands to third place in the UEFA European Under-16 Championship before moving to Estonian football.

As well as leading the national team, he guided FC Flora to the 2001, 2002 and 2003 league titles.

Sources have told The Times that the MFA president had known for quite some time that Pijpers had set his sights on coaching Kazakhstan.

List of candidates

Dr Mifsud has told his closest allies that the list of candidates for the Malta job is not restricted to one name but he is hopeful of concluding the appointment of the new coach by the second week of January.

It is believed that the MFA had also tempted Howard Wilkinson, the experienced English coach, to take over the national team but the former Leeds mentor was not interested.

Meanwhile, Football Union of Kazakhstan president Rakhat Aliyev has described Pijpers's appointment as "a New Year's present to the fans". Aliyev told uefa.com: "We wanted to give a New Year's present to the Kazakh fans.

"Pijpers has signed a two-year contract, and we are hoping to have a fruitful cooperation with this specialist, who has proved his worth in charge of the Estonian national team. We hope our team will perform well in the qualifying campaign."

Kazakhstan held the 137th position in the latest FIFA rankings, 19 places beneath Malta who ended the year in 118th.