Sudanese El-Merreikh president Gamal Al-Waly has stressed that coach Hossam El-Badry will remain in his position, despite an early exit from the CAF Champions League.
“It is too early to judge the technical staff’s performance. We want to make the best use of El-Badry and his assistant’s experience, so we will keep them,” Al-Waly was quoted as saying by Sudanese newspaper Goan Sport on Monday.
The former Egyptian Ahly coach’s hopes of rewriting his history with El-Merreikh have faded after Saturday’s defeat, the first since he took over as manager last December.
“This setback is a good motivator for us to prepare ourselves as much as we can for the coming period,” added Al-Waly.
The Sudanese giants were dropped out of round 32 after losing to Angolan giants InterClub 3-2 on aggregate, but the president doesn’t blame Egypt’s goalkeeper El Hadary.
“We can’t blame El Hadary, especially as he played an instrumental role in winning 2-0 in the first leg,” explained Al-Waly.
“He has real technical value for the team, which is helpful for morale,” he added.
El-Hadary has until 6 April to pay an outstanding fine to his former club Ahly, to avoid facing a further suspension by the international governing body of football (FIFA).
The 38-year old guard was previously suspended and fined for his illegal move from the Cairo giants to Switzerland’s FC Sion in 2008.
“As we promised the player, we are keeping in touch with FC Sion officials to solve this problem soon,” concluded Al-Waly.
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