AFC Leopards ordered to pay sacked coach Minnaert

AFC Leopards have been ordered to compensate former Head Coach, Ivan Minnaert, Ksh2.4 million for wrongful contract termination.

Three weeks after his unceremonial dismissal on September 1, Minnaert filed a complaint against Ingwe through the Football Kenya Federation (FKF) Arbitration Tribunal with the ruling being made earlier this week by the newly constituted arm’s Chairman, Bernard Murunga.

Leopards had earlier agreed to reimburse Minnaert KSh60,000 but the Arbitration Tribunal ruled that the amount be revised to Ksh2.4 million, an equivalent of his six month salary as stated in his contract.

The club raised five key issues against Minnaert with the first being the string of underwhelming performances posted by the team during his reign, the second related to the failure to issue a written apology to Team Manager Joseph Milimu for using negative and“bad” words against him in the presence of the Assistant Coaches and the playing unit.

He was also accused of disintegrating the team through poor leadership, losing the dressing room and undermining the authority of the national Executive Committee (NEC) by calling officials of the federation with regard to player transfers.

In the ruling, further details indicate Minnaert and his technical bench were hardly ever in agreement in view of managing the team, with the then Assistant Coach Ezekiel Akwana accusing the Belgian’s arrogance of tearing down the club’s team spirit.

“It is becoming very hard to win in our team because the head coach doesn’t want to apply or accept our views or my view as an assistant coach of AFC. We are losing (sic) because the H. Coach (Minnaert) only listens to what we tell him but what surprise me is that the coach tells us especially me that all my ideas are wrong,” an excerpt from a letter addressed to the club management by Akwana read.

Akwana later assumed the role of Interim Coach after Minnaert’s seven-month tenure was brought to an end but he equally found little success at the Den with Englishman Stewart Hall taking over the mantle from him.