Portuguese Vitor Salvado has resigned as the head coach Union Sportive Seme (USS) Krake throwing the Benin Vitalor Ligue 1 outfit into a spin.
The move has sent shock-waves in Benin’s football landscape, with barely three weeks left to the start of the 2019/20 season.
The shock announcement, made by the coach on Tuesday, came in the wake of heightened speculation on the future of the Portuguese barely weeks after guiding the club to a 12th finish with 53 points.
Though he was believed to be in Portugal prior to the announcement, Salvado was consistently in touch with the club authorities and players albeit from a distance.
Speculation is rife that he is headed to South Africa to head one of the top clubs.
In his resignation note that was exclusively made available to Ducor Sports, Salvado indicates that he was leaving due to the financial crisis at the club.
“With a very sad heart, I want to inform you that I am no longer the coach of USS Krake. I want to put it on record that myself and the club president have been in talks but we have not found a solution on an issue surrounding finances,” reads part of the note as translated from French.
Salvado added that he is grateful to the Porto-Novo side for the opportunity given to him to serve the club in the last few seasons.
“I want to thank the club president, the supporters and the journalists and whole country for the wonderful opportunity extended to me to serve.”
The coach went ahead to thank USS Krake players and urged them to remain focused in their careers.
“Krake is a great team with equally great and compassionate people who collectively made my stay quite memorable.”
At the same time, Salvado has declared himself available to any side in dire need of his services for the upcoming league season.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] “Right now I’m wholly available to any side who genuinely and meaningfully want my service for the upcoming season.” [/perfectpullquote]
As he exits the scene, Krake’s administration will now be tasked with finding a perfect and cheaper replacement for him.
