African coaches are getting the raw deal - Florent Ibenge

Ibenge, who has been in the country to support his friend Pitso Mosimane as he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Johannesburg, says with all their achievements, they continue to be undermined. Ibenge has been in the country accompanied by Senegalese national team head coach and former Teranga Lions captain Aliou Cisse, who also won the 2021 AFCON title. The Al Hilal head coach is asking some serious questions.

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''Yes, it is important because here our President does not have a lot of confidence in us. But we have shown that we do better than others. For example Pitso has won everything, I won also. We have a lot of coaches who are succeeding but why don't they have confidence in us,'' said Ibenge.

Ibenge, who has also coached in his home country, having been in charge of AS Vita and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s national team, says it's easy for a European coach to fail and still hop from one job to another in Africa.

''You see you can take a European coach, he can come to coach Congo, and go coach in Togo, then South Africa but Ibenge can't do the same, why?'' added Ibenge.

It’s not every day that tertiary institutions honour coaches and people in the sports sector, Ibenge says this is a very important honour for football coaches in general and spoke about the importance of supporting each other.

''When your friend calls you to attend something, you have to be there. I am really happy to be here for Pitso - he is a great man. I am happy for Dr Pitso because football is also education,'' he concluded.

 The three coaches (Mosimane, Cisse an Ibenge) completed the CAF Pro License coaching course together. Interestingly, Mosimane’s first CAF Champions League title with Mamelodi Sundowns in 2016 was achieved after Ibenge’s AS Vita was kicked out of the tournament for using a defaulter. He recalls their first meeting that year and Mosimane as a competitor.