Al Ahli will have Cosmin Olaroiu in the dugout and Luis Jimenez on the pitch when they kick off their AFC Champions League campaign at Al Hilal next Wednesday, the club confirmed yesterday.
Coach Olaroiu, handed a three month suspended jail term for defaming former club Al Ain on Monday, is cleared to return to the touchline as his six-month domestic ban extends only to games that fall under UAE Football Association jurisdiction.
There had also been some doubt over whether Chilean-native Jimenez would be allowed to play in Asia’s most prestigious club competition, but the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) have now formally recognised his Palestinian citizenship after the AFC had suspended his status pending proof of his eligibility earlier this month.
The midfielder received his passport in June of last year after he was able to prove that he was of Palestinian descent, but the AFC Champions League regulations had demanded that the passport be 12 months old as of the first game of the group stage.
However, the AFC have since decided they are happy with Jimenez’s registration, freeing him to take part in the Asian showpiece.
While Al Ahli fans may have been on tenter hooks as they waited for Jimenez’s status to become clear, club assistant manager Catalin Raducan claims to have been confident all along that things would work out in their favour.
“Whenever I have been asked about this, I say the same thing, we were never worried about this situation,” said Raducan.
“Everything is OK and the player can represent us in the AFC Champions League.”
Jimenez isn’t the only face that Al Ahli fans will be looking forward to seeing in the AFC Champions League after a club spokesman confirmed to Sport360° that Olaroiu will be allowed back on the touchline, ending a run of over two months away from the dugout.
Olaroiu’s six-month touchline ban for breaching his contract with Al Ain doesn’t extend to AFC competitions allowing the Romanian to direct his team from the sidelines.
The Romanian’s return will give some respite to his compatriot and assistant Raducan who has ably stepped up in his absence, losing just once – a forfeit against Al Dhafra for fielding an ineligible player.
Olaroiu has been in the headlines again this week after he was given a Dh21,000 fine and a three month suspended prison sentence for comments directed towards his former employers. But Raducan insists that outside forces will not and have not penetrated his team and that the players have already shown the strength of mind to prove it.
“The players don’t think about the problems outside of the team,” said Raducan.
“They show character. I don’t think there has been a season for any team that has had all these problems, and yet with everything going on outside we are first in the league and doing well in the cup.
“So the players have shown that they speak on the field and I congratulate them for ignoring everything and being professional.”
