Ibrahim Kamara has been made the permanent head coach for Ivory Coast on a two-year contract.
On Saturday, the FIF finally announced deciding to entrust the Elephants job to the experienced local coach – bringing an end to some over seven-month wait for a successor to Belgian Marc Wilmots who got axed after failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.
Kamara has since been in acting position and topped the list of five candidates for the job.
“Ibrahim Kamara has been appointed for a renewable two-year contract which expires on June 30, 2020.
The FIF needed to “find someone who can both prepare the team and take it to Afcon 2019 and then continue to prepare for Afcon 2021 [which will be hosted by Ivory Coast]. That was the goal.
“It was necessary to be able to find someone who could reflect all this, that is to say someone who has the qualities of trainer and competitor,” said Yéo Martial during a press conference on Saturday.
On the duration of the contract of the new coach, Sory Diabaté, the vice president of the FIF, for his part added that “if at the end of these years, we are satisfied with his [Ibrahim Kamara] work, why not 2 + 2?”.
Ibrahim Kamara, a former assistant to Hervé Renard, is the first local coach to take charge of Ivory Coast since François Zahoui (2010-2012). His first game in this role comes in September against Rwanda when the 2019 Afcon qualifiers resume.
Source: Footyafrica.com
