Less than 24 hours after Japan's shock Asian Cup quarter-final defeat to United Arab Emirates, the Japan Football Association said it would retain the services of coach Javier Aguirre, who is currently embroiled in a match-fixing scandal.

Aguirre was among 41 people named by Spain's anti-corruption prosecutor, who filed a case in a Valencia court in December following a probe into Real Zaragoza's 2-1 win at Levante on the final day of the 2010-11 campaign.

Borrowed time: Javier Aguirre's job is safe - for now. Credit:AFP

The victory ensured Zaragoza, coached by Aguirre at the time, avoided relegation.

The prosecutor alleges that the Levante players were paid a total of 965,000 euros ($1.2 million) in cash to deliberately lose the game with the Mexican named as one of three people who distributed the money to their opponents.