Abdulla Almutairi Abdulla Almutairi appointed FSL interim CoachFSL interim Coach

By Althaf Nawaz

Abdulla AlMutairi has been drafted as the interim Coach of the Sri Lanka National Football team which is in preparation for the AFC Qualifiers against Cambodia. 

The first leg will be played in Colombo on 5 September, while the second leg will be played in Cambodia on 10 September.

This decision was taken after regular Head Coach Andy Morrison informed of his non-availability for the upcoming fixtures due to medical reasons, and the National soccerites were in urgent need of a Head Coach to handle their affairs. Football Sri Lanka (FSL) President Jaswar Umar was quick to initiate necessary action to find an interim Coach with the support of Qatar Aspire Zone senior official Tim Cahill and their higher officials, who were quite magnanimous to draft in Abdulla AlMutairi, a well know figure in football circles in the Asian region. 

A Kuwaiti national, AlMutairi served as the Head Coach of the Nepal national team and was instrumental in driving them to a winning combination defeating India in the final at the last SAFF tournament held few years back in Maldives and rewriting history.

As per reliable sources, there is a possibility AlMutairi will be requested to continue even after the double header next month depending on Andy Morrison’s health condition. 

Last week, via a press release FSL stated that Andy had sustained an injury after the Brunei games resulting in his having to undergo X-rays and a MRI scan which were facilitated by FSL. These reports revealed that he had incurred a damage on his disc in the neck area. After his return to the UK, he had undergone further tests which confirmed the earlier diagnosis.

Subsequent medical procedures revealed his condition has deteriorated and had to undergo surgery. With this surgery Andy might have to rest for 4 to 6 weeks before he is fit to take over his role as Head Coach.

He had officially written to FSL President about his situation which enabled Jaswar to hunt for an interim overseas coach for the national team.