Smuda to relinquish Poland reins

Poland coach Franciszek Smuda will leave his post when his contract expires at the end of August.

The announcement was made by Grzegorz Lato, president of the Polish Football Federation (PZPN), at a press conference on Tuesday. "Before this conference I met Franciszek Smuda and spoke about the future," he said. "We agreed that he will not continue his work with Poland."

Lato added that he is already in receipt of several applications for the coach's role, which Smuda filled in October 2009 when he succeeded Leo Beenhakker. "We've had some offers from [other] European countries, but also one from Brazil. We haven't started negotiations yet, but it's true that we don't have much time before the World Cup qualifiers start in September."

Poland finished bottom of UEFA EURO 2012 Group A with two points from three matches. In their qualifying section for the 2014 FIFA World Cup they will play England, Moldova, Montenegro, San Marino and fellow EURO co-hosts Ukraine.