Veh to stay in Frankfurt

An announcement posted on the website of the Bundesliga soccer club provided little in the way of detail, saying only that Armin Veh had agreed to the contract extension through the end of the 2013-14 season. The much-in-demand football coach is to sign the contract in a press conference that the club has called for Tuesday afternoon.

“I am very pleased that we have created continuity” in the coaching department, the club's chairman, Heribert Bruchagen said.

There had been growing speculation over the past few weeks that Veh was set to leave the club, which he led to promotion from the second division into the top flight last season. Some media reports even suggested he had been offered a contract by Eintracht's Bundesliga rivals Schalke. Both Veh and Schalke's technical director, Horst Heldt had denied this to be the case.

Veh had previously intended to wait until Frankfurt collected at least 40 points in the Bundesliga standings before making an announcement. However, the team has head into something of a tailspin in the second half of the season and has been stuck on 39 points since March 10.

Following Frankfurt's last match, a 2-1 loss to Stuttgart, Veh conceded he may have to revise his plans.

"We have to come to a decision in the international break because this walking on egg shells is unbearable in the long run," he added, saying a decision would be made before Frankfurt take on last place Greuther Fürth on Sunday.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused Veh to agree to a contract extension, albeit for just one year. However, some had speculated that recent reports of a lucrative new jersey sponsorship deal for Frankfurt with automaker Fiat could have been a major factor.

The three-year agreement, reported to be worth around 18 million euros ($23.4 million), should make it easier for when technical director Bruno Hübner seeks to sign on new talent when he goes shopping in the summer transfer window.

pfd/hc (dpa, SID)