Vidmar to be issued with please explain

Football Federation Australia (FFA) has not ruled out sanctioning Adelaide United coach Aurelio Vidmar for "off the cuff" comments he made about Saudi Arabia at a media conference on Thursday.

FFA will seek further explanation from the club and Vidmar and if they are not satisfied with their response, they may choose to take action.

Vidmar was asked whether he was "too nice" and not "ruthless" enough towards his players, to which he offered what he has since described as a flippant response.

"What would you like me to do, chop their heads off?" he said.

"I can do that, we can go to Saudi Arabia and we can do that."

Adelaide United released a statement this afternoon, in which Vidmar made an apology for his response.

"This morning I was asked a question about my coaching style and I rather flippantly responded to the journalist," he said.

"My answer was meant to be irreverent but I realise now that those comments could be misconstrued to be a genuine view.

"I apologise, and regret my comments. I understand the impact my words might have, and I apologise to anyone who has been offended.

"I did mention something about Saudi Arabia, it was not meant to be offensive, it was just something I said off the cuff, which is no excuse.

"I have been to and played in Saudi Arabia, it is a great country and I enjoyed the time I was there, and I certainly was not trying to disrespect them in any shape or form."

Vidmar has previously attracted headlines for his performance at media conferences, most notably when he referred to Adelaide as a "pissant" town following his side's 4-0 defeat to Melbourne Victory during last season's finals series.

He later apologised for his comments.

His side meets Gold Coast United in a round 15 fixture at Hindmarsh Stadium on Friday night.