Dubai: Alejandro Sabella's stint with Al Jazira has officially become one of the UAE's shortest managerial tenures of all time after he skipped his Abu Dhabi-bound flight to join the club and instead offered himself for the job of Argentina's head coach, just 47 days into his contract with the club.

Due to arrive in Abu Dhabi last Tuesday, six weeks and five days since signing terms with the UAE league and cup champions, Sabella had by Thursday been officially announced as Sergio Batista's replacement to coach the Argentinean national team. Batista himself had taken over the national job from Diego Maradona just eight months ago.

Batista in the running

Batista, who is now sensationally linked with a move to fill Sabella's void at Al Jazira, was sacked by the Argentinean Football Association (AFA) on Monday after the recent Copa America hosts lost on penalties to eventual champions Uruguay in the quarter-finals.

In what has been a bizarre week of musical chairs between Al Jazira and Argentina, Batista now heads a list of three — with two European candidates also in the fray — to take the Al Jazira hot seat after Sabella opted out without ever leading the team for training or a game. He hadn't even signed a player, with Matias Delgado, Bare and Ricardo Oliviera all retained and one Asian acquisition still to be made.

A spokesman for Al Jazira has since made public that the club will be pursuing either the Argentinean Football Association or Alejandro Sabella himself for damages with the words "someone will have to pay".

Sabella was a midfielder for River Plate, Sheffield United, Leeds United, Estudiantes, Gremio, Ferro Carril Oeste, Irapuato. He only played four times for Argentina in 1983. As a manager he led Estudiantes to the Copa Libertadores and the Primera Division in 2009/10.

That success was instrumental in pushing him to the front of the queue to replace Batista, who was dumped after proving unable in his sole tournament in charge to end a trophy drought at senior level going back to 1993, though he did steer the Olympic side to glory in 2008.

Since a 1993 Copa success, seven coaches have come and gone without achieving senior level silverware.

Vilified candidate

Batista was vilified in the press for not seeming to know his best team — he chopped and changed after a poor start before Carlos Tevez, whom he dropped after two games, returned to miss the decisive spotkick against Uruguay.

Should Al Jazira land Batista, aged 48, they will still benefit well from his experiences of coaching; Bella Vista, Argentinos Juniors, Talleres, Nueva Chicago and Godoy Cruz. Batista was a midfielder with Argentinos Juniors, River Plate, Neuva Chicago, Tosu Futures and All Boys. He represented Argentina 39 times.

Men in charge

Al Ahli - Ivan Hasek, Czech RepAl Ain - Cosmin Olariou, RomaniaAjman - Abdul Qader, IraqBani Yas - Jorvan Vieira, BrazilDubai Club - Nestor Clausen, ArgentinaEmirates Club - Gazi Ghrairi, TunisiaAl Jazira - post vacantAl Nasr - Walter Zenga, ItalyAl Shabab - Paolo Bonamigo, BrazilSharjah - Carlos Azenha, PortugueseAl Wahda - Josef Hickersberger, AustriaAl Wasl - Diego Maradona, Argentina