Belarus coach taken to hospital
ByReuters
Published 04/09/2002 at 20:01 GMT
Belarus coach Eduard Malofeyev was taken to a Minsk hospital suffering hypertension late on Wednesday, three days before his team face the Netherlands in their opening European championships qualifier.
Belarus coach Eduard Malofeyev was
taken to a Minsk hospital suffering hypertension late on
Wednesday, three days before his team face the Netherlands in
their opening European championships qualifier.
"He wasn't feeling well this morning and when his condition
worsened in the evening the doctors demanded that he would be
taken to hospital," said Grigory Fyodorov, president of the
Belarus soccer federation (BSF).
On Tuesday, the 60-year-old coach was persuaded to stay in
his job, ending five days of intense negotiations after he
submitted his resignation, citing poor health and heavy
criticism from the local media.
But the BSF's executive board rejected the offer and urged
him to reconsider.
Fyodorov said he was confident that Malofeyev will recover
in time to lead his team for the group three match in Nijmegen.
"I'm sure he will be fine by then," said the BSF chief.
Belarus leave for the Netherlands on Friday.
Malofeyev's tenure as coach has been a troubled one.
Last October, he announced he would resign after Belarus
failed to qualify for the 2002 World Cup finals. He was
persuaded to stay on and in May this year he led Belarus to
victory in a four-team international tournament in Moscow
involving Russia, Yugoslavia and Ukraine.
Malofeyev was appointed as Belarus coach in July 2000 when
he replaced Sergei Borovsky following a string of poor results.
The team improved to finish a close third behind Poland and
Ukraine in their World Cup qualifying group last year, but
disciplinarian Malofeyev has often clashed with his top players.
He threw Alexander Khatskevich and Valentin Belkevich out of
the national team last September after accusing the Dynamo Kiev
duo of not trying in a home defeat by Ukraine. Defender
Alexander Lukhvich was then axed for supporting his team mates.
Belarus are in qualifying group 3 along with the
Netherlands, Czech Republic, Austria and Moldova.
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