Sevilla manager Jorge Sampaoli has taken his name out of contention for the open Argentina national team coaching position, saying that the timing is not right.
The acting leaders of the Argentina federation (AFA) have said they would consider looking into a "job-share" with a club as they search for a new coach in time for the Albiceleste's Sept. 1 World Cup qualifier against Uruguay.
Sampaoli, along with Atletico Madrid's Diego Simeone and Tottenham's Mauricio Pochettino have all been mentioned as potential candidates to replace Gerardo Martino, who stepped down after the team's penalty shootout defeat to Chile in this summer's Copa America Centenario final.
The coaching search is complicated by ongoing institutional chaos in Argentine football, and allegations of misappropriation of AFA funds, with the national government and FIFA having stepped in to appoint a Comision Regularizadora (Normalising Commission) to sort out the situation.
The idea of job-sharing a national coach with a club was raised last week by Fernando Marin, a government appointment to the Commission, who suggested that a manager could combine club and country duties up until the World Cup in 2018.
Sampaoli, who has been at Sevilla for just one month, said that was impossible.
"I had a call from the [AFA] president, it made me very proud, but dream opportunities don't always come at the right moment," he said during a news conference. "My dream now is to win with Sevilla. I would love to manage Argentina, I have always said that, but it would be irresponsible now to leave Sevilla at this point."
Sevilla sporting director Monchi on Thursday had also ruled out the idea.
"For Sevilla we are proud that our coach is wanted by Argentina," Monchi said. "But apart from that, Sampaoli has a contract with Sevilla and from talking to him every day I can see he is fully committed here. I have not seen any changes."
Acting Argentina commission chief Armando Perez told Radio Continental that he is still not ruling out Sampaoli and plans to travel to Spain to negotiate with Sevilla's front office. He also said he would visit with Barcelona star Lionel Messi to try to coax him to return to the Albiceleste.
"This is a great opportunity for any coach and they all would like to manage the national team, including Sampaoli," he said. "He will make every effort to manage the team. I have faith that the Sevilla front office will understand and be reasonable. We can find a solution.
"But we are talking about a €6 million clause in his contract and over here, we can't even pay the light bill. That is the truth. But we must make the effort, try to find a way to make it work. Of course, we know we aren't going to get the new coach for free."
Simeone also said he couldn't see any way to job-share both responsibilities.
"No one has done it," he said. "Possibly in the future it could be a real possibility because a lot of coaches would like to do it and can't because of their club contracts. In time, it may be a possibility."
ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan contributed to this report.