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WELLINGTON. – Embattled New Zealand women’s soccer coach Andreas Heraf quit yesterday, ending a rocky era which culminated in most top players refusing to play for him.

The former Austrian international’s resignation came as the New Zealand Football Association (NZF) launched an investigation into complaints about the 50-year-old who has been on “special leave” since June.

NZF president Deryck Shaw accepted Heraf’s resignation but said the inquiry would continue into issues raised in written complaints from 13 players who said they would not play for New Zealand again if he remained in charge.

“Part of the resignation is that Andreas has confirmed that he will fully participate in the review and we will look to the findings of the review to determine the outcomes around this matter,” Shaw said.

Heraf quit with immediate effect as both coach of the Football Ferns, as the women’s team is known, and as New Zealand’s technical director.

He has not commented in New Zealand but in a recent interview with Austrian newspaper Der Standard he claimed there was a “large-scale conspiracy” against him. – AFP.