Rhulani Mokwena Leaves Wydad Casablanca’s Technical Direction
Just four weeks before facing Manchester City in the opening match of the Club World Cup in Philadelphia, Wydad Casablanca coach Rhulani Mokwena has left the Moroccan club.
Wydad announced that the club and Mokwena “mutually agreed to terminate their contract with immediate effect” in a statement released on Monday evening.
The club has not announced plans to replace the South African coach before traveling to the United States for the FIFA club tournament, which opens on June 14 with 32 teams.
After facing Manchester City on June 18, Wydad will remain in Philadelphia to play against Juventus, and then move to Washington D.C. to face Al Ain from the United Arab Emirates.
Wydad’s preparation could also be affected by a FIFA ban on registering new players who may be signed in a special transfer window in early June. FIFA usually imposes registration bans on clubs that have unpaid bills for transfer fees or salaries.
FIFA will pay $9.55 million to each of the four African teams that qualified for the Club World Cup by winning a CAF Champions League edition between 2021 and 2024. The total prize fund is $1 billion, which will be allocated primarily to the 12 qualified European teams.
Wydad won the African Champions League in 2022 when coached by Walid Regragui. The latter left the club to coach the Moroccan national team, and in a few months helped the team become the first from the continent to reach the semi-finals of a World Cup.
Mokwena’s replacement will be the tenth coach in three years at Wydad since Regragui left.
Under Mokwena’s direction, Wydad finished third in the Moroccan league and did not qualify for next season’s Champions League. Reports from South Africa suggested that the coach went several months without being paid.
In a joint statement on Monday with Mokwena, Wydad said that he “extends his sincerest thanks to our esteemed president [Hicham Ait Menna] for his visionary leadership and unwavering support.”
Mokwena also wished “tremendous success” to Wydad at the Club World Cup.
