Former Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has set the record straight.
The 50-year-old Spaniard, now back in Mzansi for a Carling Knockout promotional tour, insists his departure from the Soweto giants had nothing to do with the blockbuster move to Egyptian powerhouse Al Ahly.
JOSE RIVEIRO ON HIS EXIT FROM ORLANDO PIRATES
Riveiro left Soweto with an impressive cabinet: three MTN8 titles and two Nedbank Cups in just three seasons, including three back-to-back runners-up finishes in the league, the most successful spell by any coach in the club’s modern era.
Chatting to Robert Marawa on Marawa Sports Worldwide, Riveiro made it clear that the decision to leave the Buccaneers was made long before Ahly’s interest.
“I don’t know if people understood the nature of my decision at that time, but I didn’t leave Pirates because I moved to Ahly,” he told Marawa, as quoted by Unplayable.
“It was a decision that was made a long, long time ago. They [Pirates] knew and Ahly came later. The only thing I didn’t like was the fact that I moved before the season ended here. I wasn’t happy about that,” he added.
Riveiro revealed that Ahly demanded an early arrival so he could prepare for the FIFA Club World Cup, a requirement that forced him to leave Orlando Pirates before the campaign wrapped up.
“It was a must, yeah, from Ahly… But I didn’t have any other option at that time. I had to do it that way. I was lucky that the club helped me a lot, Pirates. Pirates people were backing me all the time and they made everything easy for me to be there on time. I had the possibility to play that World Cup,” he said.
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The Egyptian giants parted ways with Riveiro in September, just three months after his arrival, following a series of poor performances that left the defending champions placed 12th in the league table. The club announced the exit as a mutual decision, saying the team needed to “realign with ambitions” domestically and across Africa.
A 2–0 home defeat to CAF Champions League holders Pyramids FC turned out to be his final match in charge, closing a difficult run where Al Ahly managed only one win in seven games under the Spaniard.