M. Ghanem: We are still in the negotiations stage with Ferreira
24 Nov 2015
​Mohammed Ghanem al-Ali, Head of Football at Al-Sadd, has spoken to the official website of the club concerning the negotiations with the Portuguese coach Jesualdo Ferreira. He said: “We are still negotiating with him on different matters and the picture will become clear in the following hours. If an agreement is reached, confirmation will be announced through the official channels.”

Mr. al-Ali also said that if the agreement was reached with Ferreira, he will not take up the reins of the club straightaway. Instead, he will gradually get to know the team and then take full control.
As for the current manager Hussein Amouta, Mr. al-Ali said that he was a part of the history of the club as a player and a manager. “If Al-Sadd do not reach an agreement with Ferreira, then Amouta will stay on as manager until the end of the seaon. Amouta will remain a part of the future of the club in the upcoming period and will help us in taking a decision as to this particular coach or anyone else. This is recognizing him being one of the sons of this club. Nobody denies that he has been hugely dedicated in his work and was able to win a number of trophies. He returned the league title and the Emir Cup to us after a long drought. We do not forget the number of youngsters he gave a chance to in the last three seasons; it is a number that is greater than what some clubs have achieved in the last 10 seasons.”

The Head of Football went on to add: “Nobody denies that Al-Sadd played beautiful exciting football in the last few seasons, whose praises were sung by the pundits and the audience. Even at the individual level, during the last three seasons, Al-Sadd players won the Player of the Year awards. This only came as a result of the work of the whole team, led by Amouta. But as we know, change and renewal is a way of life. Amouta had excused himself from managing the team on occasions in the past, last of which was at the end of last season. But we convinced him to stay on.”

On a related note, Mr. al-Ali also talked about the comments of Ahmed al-Shafi, Football Supervisor at Al-Arabi Club, who accused Al-Sadd on Twitter of abusing other clubs in the country. “There is discomfort and dissatisfaction with the accusations that Al-Shafi levelled at Al-Sadd Club, but we will reply in a professional and legal manner,” he said. “We will not enter into drawn-out debates and comments as we are not people who do that.”