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Matildas forced to look for new coach after Ante Milicic steps down

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Ante Milicic has stepped down from his role as the Australia women’s coach because of the delay to the Tokyo Olympics amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Football Federation Australia said on Sunday.

Milicic had been contracted to the Matildas until after the Games in Japan, which were originally scheduled for this summer. He agreed in May last year to lead the A-League expansion club Macarthur FC, who are scheduled to join the Australian competition in the 2020-21 season.

The Tokyo Olympics are now due to be held from 21 July to 8 August 2021, and there was some debate this year as to whether Milicic would continue with the Matildas for another year.

In a statement the FFA’s chief executive officer, James Johnson, said: “The unfortunate rescheduling of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games to July-August next year has meant that a decision had to be reached. FFA and Ante agree that overseeing two elite teams is not a workable solution, with both programs deserving of, and requiring, complete focus.”

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Milicic was appointed to the Matildas role in early 2019 and led them to the last 16 at the Women’s World Cup in France last year. The 46-year-old said he was disappointed to have to resign but felt he had to honour the commitment he had made to the new club.

He said: “In an ideal world, we would have been in Japan right now just days away from the start of Tokyo 2020. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 pandemic and the rescheduling of the Games has created the unenviable situation where people will assess whether I have chosen one team over another. Truth be told, I have simply chosen to honour the commitment I made to Macarthur over a year ago.”

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