Jordi Cruyff leaves Ecuador's national team

QUITO - Jordi Cruyff has stepped down as Ecuador's head coach after just six months in the role and without having led the team in an official match, according to widespread media reports in the South American country.

Cruyff and the Ecuadorian Football Federation (FEF) this week reached a mutual agreement to rescind a three-year contract signed in January, the EFE reported on Wednesday, citing federation sources.

The 46-year-old left Ecuador in March because of the coronavirus outbreak and has not returned.

Doubts about his continuation were raised last week when FEF president Francisco Egas said the Spanish-Dutch manager had requested time away to consider his future.

Cruyff's departure coincides with growing instability within the FEF. Egos was stripped of his position by members of his own board in April because of alleged financial irregularities before being reinstated this month at the behest of the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL).

The federation's internal crisis escalated last week when Spaniard Antonio Cordon quit his post as the national team's sporting director.

Cruyff, a former Barcelona midfielder who was capped nine times for the Netherlands, turned to management in 2009 and joined Ecuador after two years in charge of Chinese Super League club Chongqing Dangdai Lifan.