Tanzanian Premier Soccer League side Young Africans (Yanga) Sports Club have appointed Malawian Patrick Mabedi as interim coach.
This follows the sacking of head coach Romain Folz, just hours after the team lost 1-0 to Silver Strikers in the Caf Champions League second preliminary round first leg match at Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe on Saturday.
Yanga released a statement that they had started the search for a head coach.
“In the meantime, the team will be under the assistant coach, Patrick Mabedi, while the process of finding a new head coach continues,” the statement reads.
Mabedi joined Yanga as assistant to Folz on Tuesday.
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But Folz, the 35-year-old manager, was relieved of his duties just three months of being in charge of the club.
Mabedi is the second Malawian coach to manage Yanga after the late Jack Chamangwana.
Mabedi was not readily available for his comment yesterday.
The former Flames coach will likely be in charge of Yanga for the second leg against Silver at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam this coming Saturday.
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Meanwhile, Yanga has honoured Chamangwana’s widow, Elizabeth, following her late husband’s contributions to the club.
At a ceremony held at Presidents Hotel in Lilongwe on Friday night, Yanga chairperson Hersi Saidi, who is also the president of Africans Club Association (ACA), said Chamangwana contributed a lot to the club.
“Jack was one of our best coaches that we have had. We loved him and the team used to be called ‘Jack’s Boys’. We appreciate the work that Jack did for the club,” he told the Yanga website.
In her speech, Elizabeth hailed Yanga for the gesture.
“Jack never forgot Yanga. He always talked about how happy he was to have coached Yanga,” Elizabeth said.
She was accompanied by her granddaughter Ashley, who described her late grandfather as a person who dedicated his life to football—both on and off the pitch.
The late Chamangwana helped Yanga to win two Tanzania Premier League titles in 2004 and 2005.
