MOSCOW - ROMAN Abramovich has dipped into his own pocket to the tune of US$5 million (S$7.6 million) to pay national coach Guus Hiddink's salary, Interfax news agency reported Wednesday.

'Roman (Abramovich) decided to give Russian Football Union five million dollars for Hiddink's salary,' Sergei Kapkov, head of the 'National Football Academy' foundation, said.

'The decision came after Abramovich discovered that the Dutch manager and other national side's coaches were receiving their fee with serious delays in the past three months.' -- AFP