After much pressure from their stakeholders and the general public, Chippa United have been forced to part ways with Luc Eymael.
The Belgian manager was appointed as the club’s Technical Advisor on Monday, as Siyabulela Gwambi replaced the sacked Dan Malesela in the manager role.
However, the decision has now backfired, with the EFF, a number of the club’s major stakeholders as well as SAFA all against the appointment of Eymael.
All of the current backlash against Eymael originates from late last year when the Belgian made racist chants that ultimately saw him lose his job during his stint with Tanzanian outfit Yanga Africans. At the time, he called the club’s supporters ‘illiterates’ and ‘monkeys’. This scenario also led to SAFA placing a ban against the 61-year-old working in Mzansi.
Chippa appointed Eymael as their manager in December but had no choice but to withdraw the appointment after much criticism from SAFA.
Later on, the football body eventually gave the Belgian a pass and Chippa went on to appoint him as manager again this week. Similar to the first time, the Chilli Boys have been forced to part ways with Eymael once again.
Just yesterday, SAFCA boss Gregory Mashilo categorically stated that his organization wanted SAFA to turn down Eymael from working in the PSL.
“I don’t know what to say about Chippa, I feel they undermine South African football and all efforts by FIFA of fighting inequality in our football” Mashilo said.
“It’s a shame, its beyond us now and we hope authorities of football will stop this from happening, it’s against our constitution.
“Right now there’s a FIFA campaign to fight against racism and you have a team hiring someone who has made racist remarks. It’s a disgrace and must be stopped.”
In the latest statement released on Wednesday, Chippa have bowed to pressure and confirmed that Eymael would no longer be their Technical Advisor.
“Chippa have decided not to continue with Eymael’s appointment, who will proceed to return to Belgium. It is clear that Eymael himself requires further time to clear his name. He has reassured the club that he will, in his own capacity take legal action concerning his rights, including the dissemination of the offending media clip through his own lawyers. We as a club maintain our stance against racism of any form and wish to make it clear that our intended appointment of Eymael would not have happened were the allegations against him have been validated in any form” read the statement.