Germany´s Schmid will not return to coach MLS champs

Sigi Schmid, a German who won Major League Soccer Coach of the Year honours, will not return as coach of the MLS champions Columbus Crew, the team announced Wednesday.

The Crew, which defeated New York 3-1 in last month's title match, went 34-33 with 25 drawn under Schmid since his tenure began in 2005. This year Columbus had the best record in MLS at 17-7 with six drawn.

“Sigi Schmid has formally declined our last contract offer and will not be returning,” Crew general manager Mark McCullers said in the statement.

“Sigi was the ideal person to turn around our competitive program and create a championship mentality within our club. As a result, we are well positioned moving forward and toward continued success.”

Schmid's contract expired at the end of November and he had said he wished to explore other opportunities. Last week he met with officials from the Seattle Sounders, an expansion club that will begin play in 2009.