First female coach of major men's team leaves job

PARIS (Reuters) - Helena Costa, the first woman to be appointed coach of a men's team in the top two divisions of European soccer, has quit before taking charge of French club Clermont.

"Helena Costa has decided not to keep her commitments to Clermont and she will therefore not be the club's coach next season," the Ligue 2 club's president, Claude Michy, said in a statement on Monday.

"This is a sudden and disappointing decision."

Portuguese Costa, 36, had previously coached the Iran women's national team and scouted for Scottish Premier League club Celtic.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Stephen Wood)