Rio de Janeiro, Dec 15 (IANS): Botafogo have confirmed the appointment of coach Rene Simoes as their manager for the 2015 season.

The 61-year-old replaces Vagner Mancini after the two-time Brazilian champions were relegated to the country's second tier earlier this month, reports Xinhua.

Simoes, a former Brazil youth coach, made a name for himself by guiding Jamaica to their first World Cup finals in France in 1998.

He has also coached Trinidad and Tobago, Honduras and the Brazil women's team.

Confirmation of Simoes' appointment came days after the newly elected Botafogo president Carlos Eduardo Pereira outlined an austerity plan to address the club's spiralling debt.

"We are going to be contenders in the Serie B. It's a difficult competition and the experience of Rene will be important," Pereira told a press conference Sunday.

"We will stay strictly within our budget, but nothing will stop us from building a team that is good enough to reach our objective of returning to the Serie A," he added.