Byshovets will not resign as Russian coach

Russian coach Anatoly Byshovets insists that he will not resign in the face of mounting difficulties for his side and Russian football.

Three Euro 2000 qualifying defeats in the last month - the last was on Wednesday in a 1-0 reverse in Iceland - means that the new Coca Cola sponsorship for Russian football is likely to lose competitive international football exposure until the 2002 World Cup qualifying round starts in Autumn 2000.

The Russian league is faced with a strike threat over a new presidential election as clubs seek to install their own man but it is the form of the national side that has prompted the latest round of doom saying in Russian football just two months after there were celebrations to announce the new Coca Cola deal to sponsor football in the country. The Russian performance in losing 3-2 to world champions France was considered creditable but the defeat in Iceland has opened old wounds concerning failure and humiliation on the world football stage.