CAIRO: French coach Jacques Santini has turned down Zamalek s offer to become their new coach, the club s marketing director Khaled Refaat said on Sunday.
Santini turned down our offer for family reasons, Refaat told FilGoal.com.
The former France boss was due to arrive in Cairo on Saturday to hold talks with Zamalek over their vacant managerial seat.
The Cairo giants are now expected to focus on negotiations with Portuguese coach Artur Jorge, Swiss Michel Decastel and French Rene Girard.
We will talk to the rest of candidates following Zamalek s Cairo derby clash against Ahly next Sunday.
Zamalek are seeking to find a replacement for German tactician Reiner Hollmann, who was sacked in December after a string of poor results.
They were close to finalizing talks with Henri Michel over re-appointing him as their new manager, but negotiations fell through after Zamalek declined to pay the Frenchman s release clause in his Mamelodi Sundowns contract.
Ahmed Refaat is currently in charge of the White Knights on a temporary basis.
During Refaat s short spell at the helm, the title holders exited the Egyptian Cup after suffering a stunning 1-0 defeat to third-division side Bani Obeid in the competition s round of 32.
