Botswana to part ways with Algerian coach Amrouche

Johannesburg (AFP) – Struggling Botswana will not renew the contract of Algeria-born national coach Adel Amrouche when it expires in August, the national football association confirmed on Sunday. 

The final task for the 53-year-old will be to guide the Zebras at the Cosafa Cup southern Africa championship in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth) from July 7.

Botswana have been drawn with hosts South Africa, Eswatini and Lesotho in Group A. The top two finishers qualify for the quarter-finals along with the best two of the three third-place teams.

In a farewell letter to Botswana football officials, Amrouche lamented that local-based players had been sidelined for 15 months due to the coronavirus pandemic, which seriously affected their match fitness.

Botswana, who are ranked 43rd in Africa and 150th in the world, rely heavily on home-based players and won only one of six 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Algeria, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

They also failed to reach the group stage of 2022 World Cup qualifying, losing a two-leg tie to Malawi in their first matches under Amrouche.

Before moving to Botswana in 2019, Amrouche coached the national teams of Equatorial Guinea, Burundi, Kenya and Libya and clubs in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Algeria.