Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Jeddah: Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad FC have announced the departure of coach Khalid Al Koroni and the appointment of Egyptian Amr Anwar as his successor.
Al Koroni’s role at the club came under scrutiny after his side suffered a 5-1 aggregate defeat at the hands of Al Ain in the AFC Champions League quarter-finals.
Using their official twitter account Al Ittihad said: “After the discussion with the coach and the clubs’ board of directors the board decided to part company with Khalid Al Koroni.
“The decision was made in the light of the unsatisfactory results from the start of the new season.”
Local coach Al Koroni, who memorably took an average Saudi Arabia team to the final of the AFC U-22 Championship earlier this year, was appointed head coach in March, and swiftly oversaw an upturn in fortune which included guiding the Jeddah club into the last eight of this season’s ACL.
It is thought that the term ‘unsatisfactory results’ used in the statement, refers to Al Koroni’s failure to guide Al Ittihad to a third ACL title as his charges had won both their opening Saudi Pro League matches.
The club’s statement also revealed that Anwar had been asked to take the charges of the first team with ‘immediate effect’.
Al Koroni, a former Al Riyadh player, has yet to make an official statement regarding his departure.