(Adds Leekens, Belgian FA)
By Philip Blenkinsop
BRUSSELS, May 13 (Reuters) – Belgium manager Georges Leekens
stunned his employers on Sunday by quitting to take up the
vacant coaching position at Club Bruges.
Leekens, who has signed a three-season contract, will cease
his involvement with the national side immediately.
The 62-year-old was to have announced his squad on Tuesday
to face Montenegro and England in friendlies in the coming weeks
and to lead Belgium in World Cup 2014 qualifiers starting with
Wales in September.
Belgian football association chairman Francois De
Keersmaecker described Leekens’ sudden departure as “beneath
contempt”, saying he had only learned the news early on Sunday
afternoon.
“I am enormously disappointed and outraged… This is the
biggest shock of my career. This beats everything,” he told
Belgian radio.
Leekens told a news conference at Club Bruges on Sunday
evening that he had also been surprised by events.
“I understand that the FA is deeply disappointed, but I feel
that my work with the national side was 90 percent done,” he
said.
“The only thing missing is the finishing touch,
qualification for the World Cup 2014, but I am convinced that my
players will complete this task.”
Belgium have failed to qualify for a major tournament since
the 2002 World Cup, although there is increasing talk of a
current ‘golden generation’ with the likes of Vincent Kompany,
captain of newly crowned English champions Manchester City,
Everton playmaker Marouane Fellaini, and Jan Vertonghen and
Kevin Mirallas, named footballers of the year in the Netherlands
and Greece respectively.
The Belgian football association said it would meet on
Monday to discuss a possible successor.
Ariel Jacobs, coach of new champions Anderlecht, and Jose
Riga, in charge at Standard Liege, also announced they were
quitting after Sunday’s final round of matches.
Leekens will succeed German Christoph Daum, who announced
his intention to leave last week after steering Bruges to second
place in the Belgian championship.
He had been national manager, for a second time, since 2010,
when he stepped in following Dutchman Dick Advocaat’s abrupt
departure after just six months to coach Russia.
Leekens played as a central defender for Club Bruges between
1971 and 1982 and coached the side from 1989-91. He won the
championship in his first season managing the club.
(Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop; Editing by Sebatian Moffett
and Ed Osmond)
