THE Philippine Football Federation yesterday parted ways with Belgian coach Tom Sainfiet, who apparently sought greener pastures — if not to gain leverage for a higher pay — and opted to return to South Africa to accept a new deal with Mali.
“We had a long-term contract with Tom, and had every intention of seeing it through. That he came to me about the Mali job just as we’re about to depart for the Merdeka Cup (in Malaysia). It’s obviously disappointing,” national men’s football team manager Freddy Gonzalez said in a statement.
Gonzalez said that Sainfiet’s actions “made it clear to me that his heart was already set elsewhere. I have no interest in holding on to anyone who’s not committed to the Philippines and our goals.
“We need people who are all in. It’s the only way to succeed. That goes for the players, the staff, and most definitely our head coach. We intend to get that man on board very soon.”
Set during the FIFA window dates from Sept. 2 to 10 allowing commercial clubs to release their players to play for their respective national teams, the Merdeka Cup is set to kick off next week with the host squad, the Philippines, Tajikistan and Lebanon battling it out.
Taking over for the tournament is Sainfiet’s former deputy, Norman Fegidero, who will be supported by Filipinas coach Mark Torcaso, assistant Filipinas coach Sinisha Cohadzic, Andrew Durante and Garrath McPherson.
“Given the circumstances, we needed to act quickly. Norman was the assistant coach in the last four games and was the obvious choice to take charge in the interim. With some of our staff departing along with Tom, we needed to bring in additional support,” Gonzalez said.
“Luckily for us, we have a great staff on the women’s side that was more than willing to answer the call for this tournament. It’s unusual to see a crossover of staff from separate teams, but it’s a situation that required a novel solution,” the grateful PFF National Teams Director said.
“This temporary fix will give us much needed time to pin down a permanent head coach.”
