By Mohamed Assed.
Tripoli, 24 July:
The president of the Libyan Football Federation (LFF), . . .[restrict]Muftah Koider, has resigned from the job.
He confirmed the news when interviewed by online sports newspaper, Le Buteur. “I resigned effective from last Wednesday, 18 July, when I presented my resignation in writing, because of huge pressures which I can no longer support,” he was reported as saying. “I’m very tired and I can’t go on anymore.”
“I’m very tired and I can’t go on anymore.”
He added that “there are many other reasons that pushed me to make this decision, including regulatory reasons. I was convinced to withdraw, which is something I eventually did.”
Koider also added, “My presidency of the LFF was only temporary, and I think I have done my job well in light of the good results achieved by our national football teams. I hope the new elected president of the LFF will play his role to the fullest and in the best way possible.”
In response to any criticism that will follow his decision, Koider said: “Let them say what they want. My decision is final and I will not change my mind because I suffered a lot and I became extremely tired because of all the emotional stress.”
There were conflicting views about the seriousness of Koider’s resignation. Some supported his claims and agreed that it was time he step down and ahdn over the job to someone more experienced. However, other have seen in his resignation an attempt to pressurise the Ministry of Youth and Sports into paying more attention to the LFF and providing it with more funding.
Confirming Koidar’s resignation, Fawzy Al-Issawi, the assistant coach of the Libyan football squad also spoke of financial reasons behind it. “The LFF can no longer support the budget for five national football teams”, he stated. “Because of the financial crisis the LFF is living through right now, the president of the LFF, Muftah Koider, has officially resigned from his post. Pressure on him has been mounting for quite some time.”
Issawi said that an election to appoint a new president for the LFF would be held within the next two months. For the time being, a temporary committee would be formed to run the federation’s affairs.
Libya is to play Algeria in the final round of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers in a month and a half’s time. [/restrict]
