MOSCOW, April 1 (R-Sport) - A Kazakhstani football club admitted Tuesday its claim to be on the verge of signing ex-Zenit St. Petersburg coach Luciano Spalletti was a joke.
The Italian, 55, was fired by Zenit last month after four years in charge following a poor run of form and has since been linked to under-pressure coach Tim Sherwood's job at Spurs.
"The renowned Italian specialist Luciano Spalletti has arrived in Almaty to sign a contract," local side Kairat Almaty said in a deadpan website statement posted early Tuesday local time.
However, Kairat changed its tune almost a day later, posting an April Fool's Day message.
"We congratulate everyone on the day of laughter and wish that you, even in the most difficult situations, keep a sense of humour," the club said in a second statement. "Spalletti won't be at Kairat."
The original message remained on the Kairat website. Former Slovakia manager Vladimir Weiss is still listed as coach.
Some big-name coaches have made surprise moves to Central Asia in the past, including current Brazil manager Luis Felipe Scolari, who spent nine months with Uzbek side Bunyodkor in 2009 and 2010.
Spalletti won the Coppa Italia twice with Roma before moving to Zenit in 2009, where he won two Russian titles and became the first coach to take the team past the group stage of the Champions League.
UPDATES that club has admitted earlier statement a joke, edits to conform
