Fired Morocco Coach Reveals World Cup Dismissal Drama, Cites Federation Interference

Coach Vahid has still not digested his dismissal as head of the Moroccan national team. For the fourth time, he was fired after qualifying a team (Ivory Coast, Japan, Morocco and Algeria) for the World Cup. In an interview with the N1 media, he looks back on his dismissal. "It’s the kind of job that lasts for years, and each time, someone takes over what I’ve created. I’ll tell you what happened. I didn’t want to accept that the football federation officials tell me 15 days before the Cup (of the world) which players will play and which ones won’t," said the Franco-Bosnian coach.

He points the finger at the sponsors and the politicians. "The sponsors wanted to be the only ones to decide, the politicians too. They couldn’t influence me. I’ve always been of the opinion that it was up to me and my team to choose, because we were the ones who made the success and I was against someone else making the decision. However, they are the ones who decide about me, they are the bosses, you are a small fish, they just take you away. Okay, they also pay you for that, but playing a World Cup? There’s no money that can make up for that," he pointed out.

Coach Vahid says he has no regrets about his management in Morocco. "When you are a coach in a club or a national team, you have to do everything you believe is right, so that you don’t regret it later. [...] I don’t regret anything I did. They (in Morocco) weren’t happy about that, they were much too happy with the results. I thought a coach’s credibility was built mainly on results, but today you also have to do politics. For me, the sporting aspect remains the most important."

Being fired four times before the World Cup remains a trauma for coach Vahid. "It’s a trauma that’s hard to swallow and accept. Even as a player, I went through the same thing. I wanted to become the top scorer of the World Cup, to have a real affirmation, but it never happened. So I have traumas that hurt me, but life goes on. For now, I’m in good health, but everything that has happened in my life and in my career has probably affected my health."