Elephants fail to keep Sven

Ivory Coast have failed to persuade Sven-Goran Eriksson to stay on as coach after being unable to agree on a salary, the African country's soccer federation said.
"Indeed, Eriksson will not be the next coach of the Elephants. He was our top choice but the discussions broke down," Sory Diabate, vice president of the federation, said in a statement on the federation's website (www.fif-ci.com).
"The problem arose over financial considerations, despite good will on both sides."
Eriksson was appointed at the end of March to guide Ivory Coast at this year's World Cup in South Africa. Like most African teams, they had a disappointing tournament and failed to qualify for the knockout stages.
Ghana were the only one of the six African teams to progress from the group stage.
Diabate said the Ivorian federation was in talks with other candidates and hoped to name a new coach in the next few days.
"Everything should be finalised before our scheduled departure for London on August 7," he said, referring to the trip to the British capital for a friendly against Italy on Aug. 10.
Several local newspapers have reported the federation is in advanced talks with former Olympique Marseille coach Gerard Gili.