Guus Hiddink will meet with the new president of Russian football's governing body on Thursday to discuss his future as national team coach.

Sergei Fursenko was elected president of the Russian Football Union (RFU) on Wednesday in Moscow, and immediately announced that he would hold talks with the Dutch trainer, who has been linked with a number of leading clubs in Europe, including Liverpool and Juventus, since his failure to guide Russia to the 2010 World Cup.

The ex-Zenit St. Petersburg president and former Gazprom top manager is reported to favor a cheaper alternative to Hiddink, whose over $8 million a year contract runs out in July. Despite his failure to take Russia to the World Cup, the 63-year-old was offered an extension to his current deal by previous RFU head Vitaly Mutko.

But with the arrival of Fursenko, that offer, which Hiddink neither accepted nor declined, has been withdrawn pending new discussions.

"I want to speak to Hiddink and find out his position," Fursenko told the Russia 24 TV channel. "We'll decide on things afterwards."

When asked under what circumstances Hiddink would not be offered a new contract once his current deal runs out, Fursenko replied that, "If he accepts the conditions we have agreed on for the development of our game, then there is a chance we will continue our relationship. If not, then we will look at other trainers."

Hiddink took over the Russian team in the summer of 2006 and worked wonders to transform the fortunes of a side that had become something of a national joke, taking it to the Euro 2008 semi-finals and making a genuine world star of diminutive forward Andrei Arshavin. He was hailed as the saviour of the Russian game and there were calls for him to be granted honorary citizenship. A number of children were also named after him by enthusiastic fans.

However, he was criticized throughout the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign for spending too little time in Russia and relying too heavily on the players who had served him so well at Euro 2008. Matters came to a head in a crucial play-off against tiny Slovenia when a lackluster and tired Russia crashed out after a 2-1 win at home was cancelled out by a 1-0 defeat in Maribor, much to the dismay of the watching Russian political and business elite.

Fursenko's links with Gazprom mean the energy giant is likely to take over from billionaire Roman Abramovich as the main source of funding for Russia's top football body. Abramovich's National Football Academy stopped paying Hiddink's wages at the beginning of this year and his candidate for RFU president, Sergei Kapkov, unexpectedly withdrew from the race, saying he had been told to do so by "respected people." Fursenko was widely believed to have the backing of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minster Vladimir Putin, both fellow St. Petersburg natives.

Aside from Hiddink, Fursenko will have a host of other pressing issues to deal with. The Russian game has been tarnished by allegations of match-fixing in recent years, with a number of players and coaches admitting the practice is widespread. Last season's Terek Grozny vs Krilya Sovetov Premier League fixture attracted widespread media attention for its "suspicious" nature, leading then RFU head Mutko to say he was "ashamed" for the clubs.

Fursenko will also spearhead Russia's bid to host the 2018 World Cup. The bid, which was officially launched last October, has the full support of the government, with a high-level steering committee established under First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. Russia's main rivals for the right to host the event are England and joint bids from Spain/Portugal and Belgium/Netherlands.

But the ambitious new RFU head's plans do not stop at merely winning the right to host the 2018 World Cup; he also pledged on Wednesday that Russia would lift the trophy. A bold claim given the fact that the side has failed to qualify for the last two tournaments, and on the rare occasions it has made it, has never managed to get out of its group.

"I am convinced we will win the 2018 World Cup," he announced. "And on the way, we will achieve many other victories."

MOSCOW, February 4 (RIA Novosti)