Rome, Feb 4, 2023 (AFP) - Italian Serie B club Benevento announced Saturday they had sacked former World Cup winner Fabio Cannavaro as coach after just over four months in the job.

After a 2-1 defeat to Venezia, the club announced that assistant coach Paolo Cannavaro and sporting director Pasquale Foggia had also been sacked.

The club thanked them for their work, which it said was conducted "with seriousness and the utmost professionalism" and wished them the best for the future.

Cannavaro was hired by Benevento last September, after having been out of work since leaving Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande a year earlier.

Cannavaro won the Ballon d'Or and was FIFA World Player of the Year in 2006 after starring in Italy's triumph at that year's World Cup, the only defender to win both awards.

He also won the 1999 UEFA Cup with a star-studded Parma team, as well as two consecutive Spanish League titles with Real Madrid in the years immediately following Italy's most recent World Cup win.