Eymael denies being a racist, says he was quoted out of context

Eymael shot to prominence in South Africa after taking unfancied Free State Stars to a Nedbank Cup championship two years ago. But he left the country I a huff after an unsuccessful stint at Black Leopards.

Yanga released a statemen on Monday morning announcing his dismissal after guiding the club to second place in the Tanzanian league, citing his alleged racist slur as the reason.

Speaking to SAFM on Monday afternoon, Eymael said he hadn’t been notified of his firing yet and was with the team in their bus.

“I have seen the statement, but it is in Swahili and until now I have not received anything from the club. Even now, I am on the team bus. But maybe that will be the case (that I will be fired). But what they are doing is tarnishing my name, I don’t appreciate that,” he said.

Eymael has also posted a video of himself celebrating with Yanga players after Sunday’s game and doing he kneeling which symbolizes support for the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

“Now my name is all over Africa, it is very sad because I have worked for 10 years in Africa. How can I be a racist? How can I work in South Africa and be a racist? They took my words out of context. It is unfortunate. Everyone knows that I am not racist,” added Eymael.

While in South Africa, Eymael had a run-in with then Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela when he publicly made himself available for the Amakhosi job after rumours that he was in line for the Naturena hot seat made headlines.

Komphela went as far as urging local clubs to never hire Eymael, who he described as disrespectful and bad for South African football.