Afia Ohemeng
Belgian coach Luc Eymael has been fired by Tanzanian giants Young Africans SC for racist remarks he allegedly made on Wednesday when he compared the country’s football fans to monkeys in a surprising tirade.
Following a 1-1 draw with Mtibwa Sugar Luc Eymael attacked the club’s supporters by claiming they were very ignorant about the sport (football) while bitterly complaining about the living conditions he had been exposed to since arriving in Tanzania to take up his coaching job.
In the viral audio the coach can be heard saying -“The fans can only shout and are like monkeys who are barking ‘babababa’… “These fans do not know anything about soccer.
He also added that Tanzanian playing pitches were not for him considering how their pitches were at the level of a seventh or eighth division in Europe. He also found fault with the changing rooms in the country.
He then attacked the country saying the citizens were uneducated and he also was not pleased with the alleged lack of WI-FI and subscription service DSTV in the country.
Eymael also said the following in the tirade:
“My wife is absolutely not enjoying here and this is disgusting to me, I am disgusted … The only pleasure that I have is the pitches are always full when we are playing, full of our fans, but working in these conditions is not for me. I do not want to stay here. I would prefer that they release me let me just do my last game and let me go.”
Eymael also accused the referees of bias and claimed that the country’s officials were favourable to Yanga’s bitter rivals Simba.
“You know, [the] officiating was always against us and [was] only favouring Simba, not giving us even a clear penalty … Things like that are not for me.I said to the sponsor: Do your own things and you cannot be able to win the league because you are not an organised team, you are not an organised club.The officiating is always against you because you are a poor club.”- Luc Eymael
Eymael’s comments were not well received by the club’s management and, as expected, action has been taken against the experienced coach.
“Yanga management has been saddened by inhumane and racist remarks made by coach Luc Eymael and reported by several media outlets as well as social media…Owing to those unsporting remarks, Yanga management has decided to fire Luc Eymael effective today, Monday, July 27 and will ensure he leaves the country as soon as possible. – Interim Secretary-General Simon Patrick
