This is a rather rare speech. Omar Daf has finally broken the silence on his departure from FC Sochaux Montbéliard in a statement sent late Monday, June 6 at France Bleu Belfort Montbéliard, without mentioning the Dijon club, as stated by its general manager Samuel Laurent. ” In recent days, I have read interviews with Samuel Laurent questioning my integrity as well as my attachment to FC Sochaux-Montbéliard. I did not want to spread our differences in the public square in order to protect the FCSM institution, as I have always done. But the latest contradictory and misleading statements about me force me today to speak out to restore the truth“, he writes in the preamble.
The one who is in contract with the FCSM for another year, affirms that he had never thought of leaving the club before the end of April: “I have always expressed to the management my wish to register for the long term within the FCSM project. In recent months we have been in negotiations about the extension of my coaching contract. At the end of April, these discussions led to an agreement. Strangely, since this period, management has not found the time to formalize this agreement with a contract drawn up and signed by all parties. Under no circumstances had I even thought of leaving the club“.
Management has sought to undermine my authority on several occasions
He continues in his press release:From the end of the season, after our unfortunate elimination against AJ Auxerre in the pre-barrier to L1 accession, the tone of management towards me completely changed. Since then, the sports project has been done without taking into account either my opinions or my choices concerning both the arrivals and the departures of players within the framework of the next transfer window.
“The management has also sought to undermine my authority on several occasions. Basically, I am not really surprised by this attitude, which nevertheless touched me deeply given my historical attachment to the club, for which I invested myself with heart and professionalism for 22 years as a player, then as a coach“
Omar Daf feels “dismissed from the sports project”
The Sochaux coach confirms having been solicited by several Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubswithout confirming or denying his departure from the Dijon club: ” Even if it was never my priority to get there, I unfortunately feel today in the situation of a coach kept at a distance from the sports project and pushed towards the exit by his management. Therefore, I have to consider all the options. I will not tolerate in any case that one lends me false words or acts.
He concludes : “Over the course of the season which has just ended, I understood that the collaboration with my management would be complicated because we do not share the same values or the same ethics”.
The FCSM has given until Tuesday, June 7, 4:30 p.m. in Dijon to propose a satisfactory offerotherwise Omar Daf will end his contract with Sochaux.