Avram Grant, appointed Chelsea's manager after Jose Mourinho's shock departure on Thursday, lacks the required coaching qualification to run a Premier League club.
Under its rules the Premier League stipulates that a manager must hold the UEFA Pro License which requires 240 hours of study and usually takes a year to gain, the BBC reported yesterday.
Chelsea have confirmed that Grant, the former Israel manager and Chelsea's director of soccer, does not possess the qualification, raising questions about his long term future at Stamford Bridge.
The Premier League has relaxed its rules in the past in what it deemed exceptional circumstances involving Glenn Roeder at West Ham and Gareth Southgate at Middlesbrough.
Both men had begun studying for the Pro License but Roeder's studies were disrupted because of a brain tumor and Southgate was given special dispensation because of his involvement as a player with England.
Both Roeder and Southgate, however, possessed the lesser A and B licenses, but Grant does not even hold these according to the Times.
The newspaper reveals that Grant has written to the Israeli FA asking to enroll on one of their courses as a matter of urgency.
His first game in charge of Chelsea could not be tougher -- an away trip to champions Manchester United today.
Meanwhile, Jose Mourinho intends to look outside England for his next coaching job.
He said on Friday he would like to return to the Premier League one day, but not immediately.
"I don't want it in my next step. I don't want to leave Chelsea's door and go immediately to another door," Mourinho told Sky Sports News. "I think my next step will be another country, must be another experience, must be another football."
"I love English football and I don't change a single word I've said before," said Mourinho, who added that he cried over his departure. "Everything I do is with a lot of passion and emotion."
Mourinho also said the mutual decision to leave Chelsea was the right thing to do.
"The top people at the club are happy, and I'm happy, too," he said, adding he was not fired and didn't quit. "If I wanted to close the door I would do it before -- at the end of season."
"If Chelsea wanted to sack me they would do it at the end of the season and not at this moment. So mutual agreement I think is the correct English for what happened," he said.
"I am not interested in Chelsea football matches. I don't care at all," Mourinho said. "For me Chelsea has finished, I keep the good things in my heart and nothing else. Now it is up to them."
Mourinho also seemed to rule out a move to coach Portugal's national soccer team -- at least for now.
"I have always said it was an option for me, but only toward the end of my career when it is something I've never experienced," Mourinho said on Portuguese radio.
Mourinho added that he wanted to learn another language, either German or Italian being the most likely. But that doesn't necessarily mean he's heading to Italy or Germany.
"I am ready for every country, for every project," Mourinho said. "I just hope that the next one I am surrounded by love so I can express everything I have to express in terms of my qualities as a manager."
While British star Jack Draper spent the past week trying to find rhythm and comfort in his first grass tournament of the season at the Queen’s Club Championships in London, Jiri Lehecka on Saturday bulldozed everything in his path. After more than two furious hours of battle, their form was reflected in the final scoreline as Lehecka toppled a frustrated Draper, the second seed, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 to reach the biggest final of his career, against Carlos Alcaraz. Lehecka is also the first Czech to reach the men’s title match at Queen’s since Ivan Lendl lifted the trophy in 1990. Draper, who
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka staged a “crazy comeback,” saving four match points before beating Elena Rybakina 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (6) in the quarter-finals of the Berlin Open on Friday. Sabalenka was 6-2 down in the final-set tie-breaker, but won six straight points to reach her eighth semi-final of the season. “Elena is a great player and we’ve had a lot of tough battles,” Sabalenka said. “I have no idea how I was able to win those last points. I think I just got lucky.” “I remember a long time ago when I was just starting, I won a lot of matches being down
The Canterbury Crusaders edged the Waikato Chiefs 16-12 in an intense Super Rugby Pacific final battle in Christchurch yesterday to claim their 15th title in 30 years of the Southern Hemisphere competition. Hooker Codie Taylor scored a try and Rivez Reihana contributed 11 points from the kicking tee as the most dominant team in Super Rugby history extended their perfect home playoff record to 32 successive matches since 1998. The Chiefs, who were looking for a first title since 2013, scored first-half tries through George Dyer and Shaun Stevenson, but were unable to register a point after the break and fell to
REUNION: Former Barcelona players Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba and Miami coach Javier Mascherano are to face their former coach Luis Enrique Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi faces a tantalizing reunion with former club Paris Saint-Germain in the FIFA Club World Cup last 16 after both sides on Monday progressed to the knockout phase. Miami drew 2-2 with Palmeiras to go through second in Group A, after the Brazilian side fought back from two goals down to seal top spot. They now face an all-Brazil clash against Botafogo, who lost 1-0 to Atletico Madrid, but progressed from Group B in second at the expense of the Spaniards. Champions of Europe PSG won the group with a 2-0 victory over Seattle Sounders, paving the
RSS