Coach Ivankovic leaves Dinamo Zagreb

Coach Branko Ivankovic has parted ways with Croatian football champions Dinamo Zagreb on the eve of a UEFA Cup clash with Spartak Moscow, the club said Tuesday.

“Our club and… coach Branko Ivankovic have agreed to part three days before the 'game of the decade' in which Dinamo will confront Spartak Moscow in the third round of Group D in the UEFA Cup,” Dinamo said.

“The club board has decided that until the end of the first half of the season to be led by (Ivankovic's deputy) Marijan Vlak,” the Croatian club said in a statement posted on its website.

The departure of Ivankovic, a former coach of Iran's national team, comes six months after the 54-year-old signed a four-year contract with Dinamo.

He served as Dinamo's coach from 2006 until January this year, when he resigned after a row with the club's former sporting director Zdravko Mamic, who is now vice president.

After 16 match days, Dinamo tops the Croatian league table but traditional rivals Hajduk Split are breathing down their neck, trailing the Zagreb club by only one point.