New Al-Ittihad SC head coach Rulani Mokwena has explained the reasons for his departure from MC Alger, saying there were a lot of things to consider.
Mokwena parterd ways with the Algerian side late last week after eight months in charge and left the side in top spot on the Algerian League 1 table with 46 points in 20 matches. They lead their nearest rivals JS Saoura who have played three more matches by six points.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns and Wydad AC coach said it was important for him and his technical team to leave Alger in a good position to be competitive in the league, while citing the opportunity to empower more South Africans in Libya as one of the reasons for the switch.
“It’s quite complicated and to answer it in a few words it was a difficult decision. It was very, very difficult. But we felt it was the right decision,” Mokwena told Robert Marawa on Radio 947.
“It was motivated by a couple of things, the one was the team was in a very good position, it’s in a strong position to continue to win the league. To win it’s third league title in a row, a very historic title for the club.
“And the President, the players they are strong enough to be able to see it through. A lot of people can question the timing but we felt it was the right time, especially also because there was a better opportunity to drive a bigger sporting project.
“An opportunity to help quite a few of our South African people to again explore like we did with coach Allan [Freese] earlier in Wydad.
“We felt we were presented with an opportunity to give many South African coaches possible opportunities to work outside the country whether that is through the first team, whether that is through youth football space, whether it’s through women’s football because those are the departments we will be heading.
“Therefore we will be looking to try to empower as many as possible from South Africa. But not only because they are South African but because they have the necessary pedigree, expertise and qualities to be able to support us in the project. But here was a lot of considerations.”
Did you know that the iDiski Times Digital Newspaper is completely free! Download it now by clicking the button below or fill in the form to have it sent to you every week.
