Kenya coach praises Kinnah
Kenya’s Harambee Stars coach Adel Amrouche has praised former Flames trainer Kinnah Phiri for being an outstanding example of African coaches needing respect and protection.
In an exclusive interview at Sunbird Mount Soche, Amrouche called for the protection of African coaches through the regulation of qualifications for ‘ghost’ European expatriate coaches.
“Phiri did something; he is a local coach and he is qualified. But we have the issue of the complexion of the skin and the personality. We need a commission to control qualifications of coaches in Africa,” he said.
Such ghost coaches, he said, come to Africa to coach even when unqualified yet highly qualified African coaches have no chance to coach in Europe; hence, the traffic of coaches is always “from the North to the South.”
Last year, Nigeria coach Stephen Keshi also blasted expatriate coaches in Africa.
Amrouche condemned what he called the “discrimination of African coaches.”
“Our coaches don’t have protection. I am not against European coaches…coaches are citizens of the world but I am against ghost coaches who get jobs because of their colour,” said the Belgian who is originally from Algeria.
The former Burundi trainer cited African coaches such as Hassan Shehata and Keshi as capable of coaching in Europe, but said that cannot happen because they come from Africa.
“They are not doing anything that we cannot do. I am not racist, but that’s just the way it is. I am never against a white coach in Africa, because I have always worked with white coaches,” Keshi was recently quoted by Reuters.
