Israeli soccer coach Avram Grant signs on to Zambian national team
Former Chelsea coach said to have beaten 100 other candidates for position in African country; previously worked with Ghana
Israeli soccer coach Avram Grant, who was in the past a household name at home and in England, has signed on with the Zambian national squad, the Football Association of Zambia announced Thursday.
Grant, 67, arrived in the African country the day before.
Some 100 candidates vied for the position, Channel 12 reported, including some who had coached the national team in the past.
The selection panel was made up of government officials, Zambian coaches, and members of the local association, the network said. His candidacy was mediated by agent Nir Karin.
Grant was Israel’s national soccer team coach in 2002-2006, but under him the country did not qualify for the UEFA European Championships in 2004 or the World Cup in 2006.
He has not coached since 2018, when he trained India’s NorthEast United, Channel 12 reported. In 2014-2017 he coached the Ghanaian national team, taking the squad to the finals of the Africa Cup of Nations, where it lost to the Ivory Coast in a penalty shootout.
As a coach in Israel, he took four teams to victory in national leagues, twice with Maccabi Haifa and twice with Maccabi Tel Aviv
After that he took over as coach of English premier league soccer Chelsea in 2007-2008, leading that team to the European Champions League final, which it lost to Manchester United, also in a penalty shootout.
Grant also worked with English teams Portsmouth and West Ham United and Serbian team Partizan Belgrade.
In January of this year an investigative report that aired on Channel 12 accused Grant of sexually harassing multiple women. In February, a woman filed a complaint against him.
Following the report, FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, announced that it would investigate the allegations.
Several women said that while working with Grant, he made sexual remarks to them, making it difficult for them to maintain professional relationships with him.
In response to the Channel 12 report, Grant did not deny the accusations, saying that any harm he had caused was unintentional.
