Zamalek Fires Vieira: A Fan-Driven Shakeup Ends the Belgian Coach’s Era

Background and Unanimous Dismissal

The Zamalek SC board, led by Captain Hussein Labib, voted unanimously to part ways with Belgian coach Yannick Vieira, in response to unprecedented fan pressure, as figures showed the team in its worst form.

Inside sources told Koora that the club plans an urgent meeting with Vieira in the coming hours to formalize a cordial separation, aiming to avoid the hefty exit clause that would burden the financially-strained club.

The decisive factor in the decision was the public uproar after the 1-1 draw with Al Bank Al Ahly.

Since the league loss to Al Ahly, and especially after the draw with Ghazl El Mahalla, chants from fans followed the team at every appearance, demanding the coach’s departure.

Social media and stadium crowds became a unified platform to attack Vieira, accusing him of losing control and relying on stale tactics that no longer fix the opponents’ defensive blocks.

The anger intensified after the latest Bank Al Ahly match, which yielded another point loss, proving to fans that the Belgian coach could not rescue the season.

Zamalek sit fourth in the Egyptian Premier League with 19 points from 11 games: five wins, four draws, and two losses.

This fan pressure accelerated a decision that had been questioned due to financial implications.

Zamalek’s numbers under Vieira

The unanimous decision seeks to end a period of administrative hesitation, with numbers serving as the clearest evidence of Vieira’s failures at the club.

Under Vieira, Zamalek dropped 14 points in 11 league games and failed to win in the last four matches, surrendering nine points in the most recent four games—draws with El Gouna and Ghazl El Mahalla, and a 1-1 draw with Bank Al Ahly.

The club’s management stated that ongoing results, coupled with ineffective use of new signings, left little room to doubt that the coach had exhausted all viable solutions.

The Bank Al Ahly match underscored the depth of the club’s technical and administrative crisis, highlighted by Vieira’s refusal to attend the post-match press conference after the draw.

That refusal violated the Egyptian Premier League rules, and Zamalek faced a 20,000-pound fine for the coach’s absence from the press briefing.

The General Assembly’s oversight role

The board officially announced that members would attend the ordinary General Assembly on December 9, a move to reinforce accountability and member participation in line with Law 71 of 2017 and the club’s charter.

The meeting’s importance is heightened by the club’s current financial and technical challenges, with seven main items on the agenda shaping the white castle’s future.

Top of the agenda is approving the previous minutes, reviewing the board’s report for the 2024/2025 financial year, and discussing activity programs and the ambitious plan for 2025/2026, giving members a chance to assess achievements and challenges.

The assembly will also review the auditor’s report, approve the budget and final accounts for the year ended, and consider the new budget for the upcoming year, a sensitive item amid the club’s recent financial crises.

It will address appointing and paying the auditor, ensuring independent financial oversight, and approving the board’s report on salaries and bonuses for senior executives to ensure transparency.

Additionally, proposals from the board and members will be discussed within ten days of the announcement date, and finally, a review of the membership status of certain members under the bylaws will be considered.

Note: The list includes Tamir Ahmed Abdul Hamid Mohammed (member no. 29521) and Hadir Ibrahim Hussein (member no. 98175), among others tied to associated members.

Punchlines: 1) If pressure cooked Vieira, the soup would be black and white; 2) At this club, even the graph of the table looks like a scuffle between tactics and tempo.