World Cup 2018: Australia coach Bert van Marwijk to pay staff out of his own pocket
Former Holland manager Van Marwijk is forking out wages as the Australian Football Federation could not afford to pay his assistants
AUSTRALIA head coach Bert van Marwijk is having to dip into his own pocket to pay his assistants as the country's football federation can't afford to.
Van Marwijk, appointed Socceroos head coach in January, is being paid £571,000 for his services on a short-term contract but some will go to coaching staff, according to .
The 66-year-old is believed to be funding the salaries of eight assistant coaches and analysts going to Russia this month.
Mark van Bommel and Roel Coumans are assisting him, while Tony Franken is Australia's goalkeeping coach.
But Football Federation Australia informed Van Marwijk that there was not enough budget to pay a large team of assistants.
"I need them because they know how I work, they know how I want to work, they know how I want to play," Van Marwijk said, as quoted by .
Australia are in Group C alongside France, Denmark and Peru.
Van Marwijk has experience of going to a World Cup having been in charge of Holland in South Africa in 2010.
The Dutch side reached the final in Johannesburg but were beaten 1-0 by Spain as Andres Iniesta scored an extra-time winner.
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Pay problems are not uncommon at World Cups.
In Brazil, Nigeria's squad was embroiled in a pay dispute as coaches did not receive their wages regularly and players did not get bonuses on time.
The Super Eagles still managed to reach the last-16 in Rio, so there's hope for Australia yet.
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