Mancini takes over as coach of Qatar's Al-Sadd

Qatari club Al-Sadd on Thursday announced that they had hired former Manchester City and Italy boss Roberto Mancini as their new coach.

"Roberto Mancini has signed as Al-Sadd's coach for 2.5 seasons," the club posted on social media, alongside photos of Mancini, with pen in hand and also holding a club shirt with his name on the back.

"Benvenuto Signor Mancini," posted the club, which gave no financial details about the deal, using the Italian word for "welcome".

The 60-year-old, a former striker, has led Inter Milan and Manchester City to domestic league titles and guided Italy to the Euro 2020 crown -- played in 2021 -- during his career.

His last coaching position was in charge of the Saudi Arabian national team from August 2023 until October 2024.

At Al-Sadd, Mancini replaced Portuguese coach Felix Sanchez, who led the club to a record 18th Qatari league title and also a domestic cup triumph last season, but was fired in October.

After nine rounds of matches, Al-Sadd are sixth in the 12-team Qatar Stars League, eight points behind leaders Al Gharafa.

They are 10th in the 12-team Asian Champions League Elite western group, five points off of eighth, the last qualifying place for the knock-out rounds.