Taiwan’s national soccer team head coach Toshiaki Imai was fired on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after winning an Asian Cup qualifier, in a shock announcement by the Chinese Taipei Football Association (CTFA), which named Kazuo Kuroda as interim coach.
Imai’s dismissal came only five months after he took on the job, his second stint in charge of Taiwan.
After returning in May, the 61-year-old Japanese coach accumulated a decent record of five wins, one draw and three losses in international matches.
Photo courtesy of Chinese Taipei Football Association
Taiwanese soccer has been mired in a series of controversies, with internal wrangles and player dissent leading to criticism of CTFA management from the public and sports commentators.
Three top players have quit the team in the past year.
The team is on the hunt for their third head coach in just over six months after Chen Kuei-jen quit in April.
“Due to problems over communications and other factors, the CTFA discussed the situation with coach Toshiaki Imai, but we could not come to an agreement,” the national body said in a statement.
“Therefore after the match against Timor-Leste, we decided to make this personnel change,” it said.
“The CTFA expresses its gratitude and endorsement of coach Imai’s diligent efforts in the past five months,” it said. “We hope Imai can move up to the next level in international soccer following his successful spell with the national squad in this short period.”
Imai said the decision was baffling.
“It’s their decision to make,” he said. “According to the contract I signed, the CTFA can terminate the contract at any time, so there is nothing I can do but accept the decision.”
“It came without warning and I was very surprised,” he said. “When the CTFA called to inform me of the decision, I was baffled by it and could not understand the reasons. We have just won the two-match series over Timor-Leste and advanced into the next qualifier round. All the players were in high spirits and getting ready for training on Saturday [tomorrow] to prepare for the upcoming internationals.”
Soccer officials said that Imai had an uneasy, fractious relationship with some players and the CTFA, which grew as time went on, creating misunderstanding and internal squabbles.
Others attributed the problem to Imai’s “obdurate personality” and his insistence on hiring coaching staff he approved of.
Officials said Imai was angry that two of his most trusted Taiwanese assistants, former national players Lu Kun-chi and Cheng Jung-jen, were ineligible to join Imai’s coaching staff because they lacked C-class coaching licenses.
Imai reportedly clashed with CTFA officials over the matter, and with Lu and Cheng barred from being part of the two-match series at home against Timor-Leste, it led to further conflict and pushed the governing body to fire the Japanese coach.
Fans and commentators had divergent opinions over the news, with some people denounced CTFA for the rash decisioning, resulting in more disharmony and instability, and some questioned the timing, as it came after two match wins to advance into next Asian Cup qualifier round, while others said they were happy to see Imai’s exit as they had not been impressed with his coaching style.
Netizens put forward numerous ideas for a replacement, with some calling for prominent Japanese former players with proven track records, while others said it was time to bring in a big-name European coach to raise Taiwan’s game and some advocated going “Latino style” by hiring a Brazilian or an Argentine.
The CTFA ended the speculation yesterday by confirming the predictions of some soccer experts that it would “go back to the Japanese school,” announcing that the head of the Taiwan youth soccer program, Kuroda, would be the interim coach for the national squad.
Kuroda has been in Taiwan since 2012.
He has more than 45 years of soccer experience and is referred to as the “Godfather of Japanese soccer.”
He has been in charge of youth teams and programs as part of a collaboration between the CTFA and the Japanese Football Association.
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