Andre Villas-Boas quits SIPG to race in Dakar Rally

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Former Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur manager Andre Villas-Boas will leave his post with Shanghai SIPG to compete in the Dakar Rally.

"After an eventful year full of wins and achievements for the team and its players, it is with sadness that we communicated that both Shanghai SIPG FC and Mr. Andre Villas-Boas have agreed to move forward in different directions,” the club said in a statement on their official website.

Andre Villas-Boas leaves SIPG. /VCG Photo

Villas-Boas joined the Chinese Super League giants in November last year. The 40-year-old, who will drive in the Dakar Rally in January, saw his side lose Sunday's FA Cup final to underdogs Shanghai Shenhua and had frequent run-ins with the Chinese FA.

That two-legged defeat was Villas-Boas's last chance of silverware, having finished second in the CSL to Guangzhou Evergrande and lost in the semi-finals of the Asian Champions League.

In a rather unexpected turn in his career path, Villas-Boas now plans to take a break from football, partly to contest the Dakar Rally. He will drive a Toyota Hilux in the two-week race which starts on January 6 in Lima and criss-crosses the Andes before finishing in Argentina.

1072km