Because the club management has opted not to renew the contract of Portuguese coach Mario Lemos for the 2023-24 season, it is expected that Abahani would hire Argentine coach Diego Cruciani to serve as the team’s head coach once again for that season.
It has also been learned that the club management has decided to appoint assistant coach Nazrul Islam as the manager in lieu of Satyjit Das Rupu, who served as the manager of the club’s football team for nearly two decades. Das Rupu was in charge of the team for the majority of that time.
Cruciani had served as the head coach of the Bangladesh national team from 2005 to 2006 before taking over the reins of the Abahani programme in 2007. The 61-year-old coach was also employed by Saif SC during the 2021-22 campaign.
Mohammad Humayun Kabir, the chief executive officer of the club, stated that they will update the developments after the club’s chairman approved the decisions made by the football committee on the new coach and manager, despite the fact that the club officials remained mute over the appointments of the new coach and manager.
“I can’t tell you anything until the club chairman approves the new resolution, which was taken at the meeting of the football committee yesterday [Thursday],” Kabir stated in an interview with the Daily Star.
When approached, Lemos responded by saying, “Abahani has decided not to renew contract with me and informed it last night [Thursday].”
Cruciani and Nazrul’s appointments, on the other hand, have been verified by an online news website, which cited a statement made by the club’s acting director-in-charge, Kazi Nabil Ahmed.