TEHRAN - Iran's football federation has denied that it has been linked with Willy Sagnol for coaching its national soccer team, Tehran Times daily reported on Wednesday.

Recently, Italian site Foot Mercato reported that the Iranian federation has opened negotiations with Sagnol, the former Bayern Munich assistant.

However, Iran's football federation spokesman Amir Mehdi Alavi on Wednesday rejected the report, saying that "that's absolutely false. Dragan Skocic will remain as Iran coach."

Iran is third in Group C, five points behind Iraq in the 2020 World Cup qualification.