ARRIGO SACCHI looks set to keep his job as Italy's coach after attempts to elect a new president of the country's football federation ended in deadlock.

Representatives of 5,500 professional and amateur clubs met in Rome for more than 12 hours on Tuesday but, despite two rounds of voting, failed to decide upon a replacement for Antoaio Matarrese.

With the new season just one month away, federation sources have admitted that by the time a proposed interim president is in place, it will be too late to contemplate replacing the national coach.