Afrikfoot, who covers African soccer news, said on the 8th (Korea Standard Time), “The Cameroon Sports Ministry rejected Renard,” adding, “The outrageous salary demand is the reason.”
According to the report, Renard was the top priority among the candidates for the new coach submitted by Cameroon Football Federation President Samuel Etu to the Cameroon Sports Ministry.
However, Renard asked for 1.5 million euros to 2.4 million euros. The maximum amount is six times the 400,000 euros he is currently receiving from the French national team. Cameroonian Sports Minister Narcissus Muel Kombi said, “That was a huge amount. I have never given the same amount to any coach in history.”
In addition, Twitter Lataniere, who is covering the news of the Cameroon national team on Twitter, said, “Renar was paid 1.1 million euros a year when he was working in Saudi Arabia. In Cameroon, he requested 2.4 million euros and hoped that he would be paid two weeks before he started his job.”
French daily Le Figaro also said, “The annual salary that Renard is paid is estimated at 400,000 euros. If he had taken the helm of Cameroon, he would have earned six times as much.”
According to Cameroonian media outlet Actucameroon, Cameroonian People’s Democratic Rally (CPDM) activist Aniset Mani opposed the appointment of Renard with a large amount of money, saying “public funds should not be abused.”
“I have conveyed my desire to leave the French football association after the 2024 Paris Olympics,” Renard told a news conference last month. “I have the 2026 World Cup in my mind. I hope it will be my third World Cup as a coach for the men’s national team. This is my personal motivation.”
Cameroon, along with South Korea, was considered as Renard’s next destination. French media Le Quiff reported on the 30th that “Five teams, including Korea, Poland, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Morocco, are interested in Renard.” Cameroon broke up with coach Rigobert Song after the Africa Cup of Nations in February and is seeking a new coach. Cameroon, which was eliminated in the round of 16 after being blocked by Nigeria in the tournament, gave up renewing its contract with Song, saying, “We need a change.”
French media Le Quiff reported on the 30th of last month that “Five teams, including Korea, Poland, Cameroon, Nigeria and Morocco, are interested in coach Renard.”
If what Renard allegedly demanded from the Cameroon Football Association is true, the amount is larger than what the association paid Jurgen Klinsmann. According to foreign media, Klinsmann’s annual salary is reportedly 2.2 million dollars. Bento, who led Korea to the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, is estimated to have received 1.9 million dollars from Korea.
However, it is uncertain whether the Korea Football Association will be able to meet Renard’s demands due to financial circumstances. As the KFA replaced Klinsmann after a year, the KFA ended up paying a hefty penalty for the remainder of his contract. Analysts say that the amount that can be paid to the next coach will be limited due to the fixed budget. Some predict that it will be difficult to accept the position as the Korean coach unless he makes a “pay cut” on his own.
Renard became famous in the African continent by winning the Africa Cup of Nations twice as a French coach, Zambian in 2012 and Cordivore in 2015. For this reason, Renard has continued to be connected to Cameroon, Morocco, and Ivory Coast.
After the 2019 Nations Cup, Renard declared a new challenge on social media, saying, “I don’t think I’ll work in Africa,” and took the helm of Saudi Arabia.
Coach Renard, who led Saudi Arabia to the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar, created a stir in the finals. He beat Argentina’s national team led by Lionel Messi 2-1 in the first Group C match. Argentina lost to an Asian team for the first time in World Cup history, and its 36 A-match unbeaten streak ended because of Saudi Arabia.
Renard has deep connection with the Korean national team. Even before Paulo Bento and Jurgen Klinsmann were mentioned as candidates for the team. Notably, Renard reportedly had been the top candidate for the Korean national team before Bento’s appointment, but Renard rejected the offer.
The Power Enhancement Committee, which held the 5th Power Enhancement Committee briefing at the Soccer Hall in central Seoul on the 2nd, narrowed down the candidates to four domestic and seven foreign coaches. The four domestic leaders are known to belong to the current team.
Jeong Hae-sung, chairman of the Korea Electric Power Corp., said, “We had the fifth meeting of the power enhancement committee earlier in the day, and discussed a total of 32 candidates for three hours. Finally, we have decided to put 11 coaches on the list,” adding, “We plan to hold interviews with seven foreign leaders first. We will conduct non-face-to-face meetings with foreign coaches, and we are also collecting and analyzing videos of the relevant leaders’ matches.”
“The Korean leader will have an interview immediately after the interview with a foreign director. Through this process, we will have in-depth interviews with 11 candidates and appoint a supervisor by the middle of May at the most,” Chung said.
Regarding the next coach, Chairman Chung has revealed a total of eight selection criteria, starting with tactical capabilities, including fostering, justification, career, communication, leadership, human system, and ability to produce results.
BY: 스포츠토토핫