Egyptian champions Ahly announced on Saturday the appointment of Swiss tactician Rene Weiler as the club’s new coach.
Weiler will coach the Reds starting the new football season, read a statement on Ahly’s official website, adding that “the Swiss coach will be aided by three assistants. A performance analyst may join them later.”
The statement didn’t disclose further details about the contract.
The 45-year-old Swiss coach succeeds Uruguayan coach Martin Lasarte who was sacked earlier in August after the Reds exited the Egypt Cup in the 16th round at the hands of Pyramids FC. Assistant coach Mohamed Youssef has been temporarily in charge until the new coach was appointment.
Despite helping Ahly to clinch the league title for the fourth straight season last month, Lasarte paid the price of some uninspiring displays that did not go down well with the team’s demanding supporters.
“After choosing between more than 30 coaches, the football committee settled on five names, including Italian Luciano Spalletti and Brazilian Mano Menezes, to choose one of them, but finally Weiler won the race,” the Ahly statement explained.
“The committee chose Weiler for many reasons including his achievements with his previous teams, his strong personality, preferring stability and being ambitious. Weiler has what it takes to realise the aspirations of the Ahly fans on the domestic and continental levels,” the statement said about the former Anderlecht and FC Luzern coach.
The former FC Zurich defender started his managerial career in 2002, guiding Swiss club FC Winterthur. He was then in charge of Swiss clubs FC St. Gallen, FC Schaffhausen, and FC Aarau.
He managed German club FC Nürnberg from 2014 to 2016 before moving to Belgium giants Anderlecht, where his managerial career was boosted after winning the 2016/2017 league title and the 2017 Belgium Super Cup title.
Weiler was in charge of Swiss club FC Luzern last season. He left the club following a dispute with the club management.
The new coach’s first challenge with the Cairo giants will be the encounter with Equatorial Guinea’s Cano Sport in the 32nd round of the CAF Champions League. The first leg will take place on 14 September, and the return leg will beheld in Egypt two weeks later.
