It was not in the head of the coach of the Al Ain team, Croatian Ivan Liko, that the decision to remove him from his post will be in this surprising image, despite the criticisms that took place recently, as he came as early as he returned to the Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, yesterday, to lead the main training session in preparation for the confrontation Dibba Al-Hisn tomorrow, in the final eighth round of the President’s Cup.

At a time when all players of the team had reached early arrival at Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium, at four o'clock in the afternoon, Emirates Today learned that there was an urgent meeting between the Chairman of the Al Ain Football Club, Dr. Matar Al Darmaki, with coach Liko, during which he was notified By the decision to remove him from his post due to the decline in the performance of the team's results in the past period.

What reveals that the dismissal came as a surprise, even for Evan Liko, that the coach would have held a press conference at 03:50 pm, in the press conference room attached to Khalifa bin Zayed Stadium, to talk about the "leader" preparations to confront Dibba Al-Hisn.

The press conference was initially delayed for 30 minutes by the media office to take place at 04:20 pm, before the club officially announced the dismissal of coach Evan Liko from his position at 4:35, and the coach left the Khalifa Stadium at 04:40 Carrying his bag, while the interim coach, Al-Radif, the Iraqi coach, Ghazi Fahd, led the first training session at 05:00, and was held behind closed doors.

The Chairman of Al Ain Football Club, Dr. Matar Rashid Al Darmaki, revealed that the reason behind the decision to dismiss the Croatian coach, Ivan Liko, from his position came according to the reports of the technical committee for professionalism of the club, after the team lost several points during the past benefits.

The results of the "leader" declined at the level of the Arab Gulf League, as they tied at home 2-2 against Al-Nasr in the eighth round, while last Thursday, they lost to their fans from Al Dhafra 1-2, within the tenth round, and the team retreated in the ranking table to the center Fourth with 18 points, six points behind leaders Sharjah.

Al Darmaki said to the official website of Al Ain Club: “All decisions of the football company are based on fixed criteria and clear policy, and far from the methods imposed by improvised reactions, or dealing with the situation with passion, and we are well aware that stability in any technical system of football teams in general is very important He added, "We have reached a firm conviction that the technical staff has worked hard and worked hard, but it was not matched by success in some technical decisions."

He added: «We are keen to benefit from the public’s opinions and interactions on (social media), but the players’ need for fans of the club and its loyal fans on the field is more important than any blame messages.

Al-Darmaki added, "I think that the team's opportunity to compete for all titles remains. The Professional Committee has developed several names for the new coach that suit the current stage, and this file will be resolved soon, and we are keen to be the owner of a well-known name and great successes."

Temporary coach: I do not have a magic wand

The temporary Al Ain team coach, Ghazi Fahd, said that he does not feel the existence of any heavy legacy that the coach, Ivan Lake, put on his shoulders, as long as the team’s list includes stars such as goalkeeper Khaled Issa, defender Ismail Ahmed, Brazil’s Caio Canedo and Togolese Laba. Kudjo, but at the same time made it clear that he does not have a "magic wand" to change the reality of the team, and that his main goal at the present time is to restore confidence to the players. In his response to a question to «Emirates Today», about how to return the team to the correct path 48 hours before the Dibba Al-Hisn in the President’s Cup: Football is full of challenges, even if you are supervising a training session, we have a difficult confrontation in front of the ranking leader "The first division league with the defeated exit system will undoubtedly be a difficult match. We will initially miss the efforts of Abdul Rahman Meziane and Lapa Kudjo, and yet we hope to obtain a qualification card."

The decision to dismiss Liko was based on the reports of the technical committee for professionalism at the club.