Alen Stajcic has been sacked as coach of Australia's women's side, less than five months before they begin their FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019™ campaign.

In a statement on Football Federation Australia's (FFA) website, FFA CEO David Gallop outlined the reasoning behind Stajcic's departure as Matildas coach.

"The ultimate responsibility for driving change and leading a high-performance environment that puts the team in the best possible position to achieve what they are capable of, rests with the head coach," Gallop said. "We no longer have confidence that Alen is the right person to lead the team and staff.

"FFA is committed to providing the best possible environment for the Matildas and this change is being made with that objective in mind. We will continue to review other aspects of the team set-up and monitor the Matildas environment in the coming weeks and months as we build for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in France."

The statement concludes by outlining that a process to appoint an interim coach will begin immediately, with that individual set to take charge of the team through until the Women's World Cup. The Matildas begin their France 2019 campaign against Italy on 9 June in Valenciennes.

Despite his departure, Stajcic left with the best wishes of the FFA CEO.

“Alen has achieved a number of successes on the field with the Matildas since coming to the role in 2014," Gallop said. "We thank Alen for this service and wish him the very best in his future endeavours in football."

The scenario has a sense of familiarity with the Socceroos left looking for a new coach months ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ following Ange Postecoglou's resignation. Bert van Marwijk took charge in January 2018 for the global finals, with the Aussies ultimately departing Russia 2018 at the group stage.