– Coach Marko Nikolac have been “mutually consented” by Olimpija Ljubljana for calling Nigerian player “black idiot”
– The Slovenia league leaders says it had no choice but to part ways with Nikolic following a seven match ban by the FA on the coach
– Nikolic was caught on camera racially abusing Nigerian forward, Blessing Eleke for “over celebrating” after getting his team’s equalizer in a 1 – 1 draw at home against Zavrc on Sunday, April 10
Slovenia league leaders, Olimpija Ljubljana, have parted ways with their coach Marko Nikolic via ‘mutual consent’, Complete Sports reports.
This comes after Nikolic was handed a seven-match ban by the FA for a racial slur against one of his own players, Nigerian forward Blessing Eleke.
According to Olimpija Ljubljana’s president Milan Mandaric, the club had no choice but to lay off the Serbian coach, since the ban meant Nikolic would have been kept away from the dugout until the end of the season.
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“It was not an easy decision but as the club’s president I had no other options,” Mandaric, the former Leicester City and Portsmouth owner said on the club’s official website.
“Nikolic is a good coach but he committed an intolerable offence while Olimpija, a club that I took over because of its huge potential, has to remain a role model of professional conduct.
“We have reached an agreement with Marko Nikolic for him to resign as coach. He is a good coach, a good man, but he made a mistake and had to pay for it,” Mandaric added.
Olimpija Ljubljana have sacked their coach Marko Nikolic via ‘mutual consent’ for his black idiot racial slur on Nigerian Blessing Eleke
Naij.com recalls that Eleke had said his religious background influenced him in talking the club president Milan Mandaric out of sacking the Serbian.
This prompted Mandaric to forgive Nikolac. The club president had said in a press briefing: “The remarks of our coach were not racially motivated. He just wanted to win the game. We are all focused on qualifying for the championship playoffs and going on to win the league.”
However, the Slovenian FA intervened by banning Nikolac, citing “clear racism” as its reason for acting.
Just before the ban and his sack, Nikolac had apologized to Eleke for fear of losing his job after he racially abused him.
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Nikolac said his remarks about Eleke were not racist as he only wanted his team to conserve time and try to score a winning goal as they aim to reach the championship playoffs.
He said he was very angry when he saw Eleke ‘over celebrating’ after the Nigerian scored a leveller for Olimpija against Zavrc on Sunday, April 10.
He said: “I wish to apologise to the to everyone – the President, the Sports Director, Blessing Eleke and finally all fans of Olimpija for an inadvertent remark, which when heard again on television later sounded very distasteful and worthy of condemnation.
“My only wish was that after the equaliser on 92 minutes, we should try to get the winning goal. My target is to reach the national championship playoffs and go on to win the championship. I would like to thank all the team for understanding that my remarks were not meant to be racist.”
Olimpija top Slovenia’s 10-team first division with 62 points from 30 games, two more than the champions Maribor with six games remaining.
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Something bad has happened to coach who called Nigerian player “black idiot”
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