A former North African club boss has revealed that an injury he sustained prior to their clash with Mamelodi Sundowns was the reason the club decided to part ways with him.
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Sundowns' final CAF Champions League group-stage clash for the 2024/25 campaign came against AS FAR Rabat.
Ka Bo Yellow needed to avoid defeat at Loftus Versfeld in order to qualify for the competition's knockout stages for a seventh successive season, and despite a tough clash against the Moroccan outfit, the Betway Premiership champions succeeded in their mission as they and their opponents progressed to the tournament's last eight.
The North African giants, however, had to navigate the clash in the South African capital without their then head coach Hubert Velud.
Ahead of the match-up against Masandawana, FAR Rabat posted that the Frenchman had successfully undergone surgery on his Achilles and would be absent from the sidelines indefinitely.
A few weeks later, though, the club decided to relieve the 65-year-old of his duties, and now he has revealed that it was because of his inability to be on the training ground on a daily basis.
"On January 11, during the 5th day of the Champions League group stage, our draw against Raja Casablanca (1-1) allowed us to secure our qualification for the quarter-finals," Velud told Afrikfoot.
"I jumped for joy and landed badly. As a result, I hurt myself badly and was diagnosed with a complete rupture of the Achilles tendon.
"I was operated on very quickly, and I would like to thank the club who behaved in a very classy manner by taking care of everything. Obviously, with this injury, the hospitalisation, the immobilisation and the rehabilitation, it was not possible for me to be on the field every day."
"Right after my operation, I was able to manage things remotely, but it's obviously not the same as being with the players every day. With the technical staff, there were daily exchanges...
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He added: "But beyond that, the management, with my injury, logically had to make a choice, which is completely normal. So we reached an agreement. I was under contract until June 30, and discussions with the FAR management were quickly concluded. Everything went very well."
