Incumbent Nepal national football team coach Abdullah Almutairi will continue to manage the national squad for at least next two years. All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) and Almutairi agreed for a contract extension, the Kuwaiti announced in a Facebook post on Wednesday.

The controversial coach who had announced to have resigned from the post three times has decided to hang around after all.

In his Facebook post, Almutairi said that he has agreed to sign a three year contract extension with the Nepali football governing body.

ANFA President Karma Tsering Sherpa also confirmed a verbal agreement with the Almutairi and Qatar Football Association of a two-year contract extension.

Almutairi was sent by the Qatar Football Association under grant to coach the Nepal national football team.

With the contract extension agreement, Almutairi will stay in Nepal till at least December 2023 .

Almutairi has become a controversial figure for his mercurial personality and his spats with the ANFA officials. He has announced his resignation on three occasions since July.

The last time Almutairi announced his resignation was on October 13 after Nepal entered the historic SAFF Championship final following a 1-1 draw against Bangladesh.

He had then said at a post match conference that the final of the SAFF would be his last match as Nepal coach and he would never come back to Nepal again. Nepal eventually lost the final 3-0 against India in Maldives on October 16.

Despite Almutairi’s quirky behaviour, he is credited for guiding the Nepali team to first ever SAFF Championship final in 28 years since the tournament’s inception in 1993.

He was appointed as Nepal’s head coach for a year-long tenure in April under a grant to ANFA by Qatar FA.

His future with the Nepal team became uncertain after he left for Qatar from Maldives while the rest of the team travelled to Nepal.

ANFA President Sherpa had gone straight to Qatar from Maldives and discussed with Qatar FA and Almutairi regarding his contract extension.

“After discussions with Qatar FA and Abdullah [Almutairi] we have reached an agreement to give continuity to him as coach for next two years with an option to extend the contract for further one year. The Qatar FA will be responsible for his salary,” said Sherpa.

While announcing his resignation for the first time on July 25, he had blamed ANFA senior Vice-president Pankaj Nembang for troubling him. Later, the National Sports Council had formed a probe committee to resolve the dispute at the request of ANFA.

The committee had concluded that Almutairi need to improve his professional behaviour and delete his controversial Facebook post where he blamed Nembang.