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Morocco World News
New York, February 9, 2012
This past Tuesday, Fabio Capello announced his resignation as manager of England’s national soccer team. Starting in 2008, Capello was hired by the English FA to help the national team reestablish its global dominance and hopefully secure positive results during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Due to his gravitas and proven track-record, Capello was the highest paid soccer coach, earning an annual income of 8.8 million Euros. After Capello’s resignation, and based on his reported monthly salary of 250, 000 Euros, Eric Gerets, Morocco’s national team coach, has become the most highly paid national team coach in the world.
In return for his fat salary, he rewarded Moroccan fans with a shameful and demeaning elimination from the 2012 African Cup of Nations.
His undeserved and exorbitant salary, coupled with the elimination of Morocco from this continental competition, caused much disgruntlement among Moroccans, most of whom called on the Moroccan Federation of Football to sack him.
To the dismay of Moroccan fans, their calls fell on deaf ears, as, according to the daily newspaper Al Massae, Eric Gerets stated to a Belgian newspaper that he was asked by the King of Morocco to remain at the helm of the Atlas Lions.
This statement, which reportedly put Morocco’s King in an awkward position, caused the Moroccan Federating of Football to summon Mr. Gerets on Wednesday and asked him to explain his statement to the press.
Last Friday, the French TV channel France 24 revealed that Gerets earns $300,000 a month, a salary equivalent to nine of the coaches combined of other national teams participating in the African Cup.
The arguments put forth by those who brought this highly controversial coach was that he has a good record at the club level and a “proven international status.”
When one examines his resume, however, he will see that Mr. Gerets has barely won a few titles with Olympic of Marseilles and one or two with Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia. One will inevitably come to the conclusion that the people in charge of the destiny of Moroccan football are either blind to the reality of Morocco’s football needs, or they are living in another planet. Oh maybe, because of the French complex of these officials, the fact that he won a title with a French team, is enough to conclude that he has an international renown.
Many Moroccans correctly point out that since officials are willing to pay a high salary to a foreign coach, why not recruit or consider someone truly successful, such as Marcello Lippi who won the World Cup with Italy in 2006 after winning a number of titles with Juventus and other Italian teams.
Perhaps Mr. Vicente del Bosque who won the World Cup with the Spanish National team in 2010, after winning three Champions League titles with Real Madrid in 1998, 2000 and 2002. Why not consider Dutch coach Gus Hiddink, or Carlos Alberto Perrera, who won the 1994 World Cup with Brazil. One can safely say that these coaches have an international status, and that they would deserve the fat salary being earned by Eric Gerets.
It is worth pointing out that, while a coach who bears the biggest responsibility in the elimination of Morocco from the first round of the African Cup of Nations earns 3 million Euros, Vicente del Bosque, who made all Spaniards proud when he brought them the World Cup in 2010, earns an annual salary of 1,5 million euros.
Morocco’s GDP stood in 2010 at 92 billion dollars, whereas Spain’s GDP was 1,4 trillion dollars.
The salary of Eric Gerets adds to the biggest omelet in Africa organized recently in Marrakesh.
