Kaizer Chiefs and Nasreddine Nabi are expected to discuss the coach’s future at the club later this month, once he returns from Tunisia, with Siya sources indicating that the coach and the club’s vision are not 100% aligned following preseason.
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On Friday, ahead of Amakhosi’s opening league fixture of the 2025/26 season, the club announced that Nabi would not be on the bench on Sunday.
The club said, in part, on their official website, “We regret to inform our supporters that Coach Nasreddine Nabi will not be traveling with the team to Cape Town for our opening game of the 2025/26 Betway Premiership season against Stellenbosch FC this Sunday. A critical accident involving his wife has occurred at his home in Tunisia, prompting the coach to travel this evening to be with her and the family.
“Coach Nabi will return to South Africa once the situation has stabilised.”
Prior to Chiefs’ announcement on Friday, the Siya crew had been informed that the club and the coach have not being seen eye-to-eye. Soccer Laduma had been investigating the situation.
At the time, the source explained, “The coach might not even go to Cape Town with the team because things are not so well. There was a meeting between the coach and management a few days ago and things aren’t rosy between the two parties. There were things that some members were not happy with from the pre-season camp and the Toyota Cup was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Following Chiefs’ announcement on Friday, a second source who is privy to inside information admitted that they are unaware of what Nabi’s future holds but reaffirmed that there is some discord within the camp.
“To be honest with you, I don’t know what is going to happen with the coach, but what I can tell you is that management is not competently happy with how things are going. They are not happy with the coach’s attitude at times and were not convinced by the preseason preparations. They do want to address it,” explained the source.
In an update today, the primary source said that the club is waiting for the coach to get back from Tunisia to discuss the way forward.
“Everything is on hold now until the coach comes back. Because of the sensitive situation with the coach’s wife, the club decided to give the coach the much-needed time to deal with his wife’s health. Thankfully, she’s recovering well and the coach might be back in a week or two and that’s when we will get a clearer picture about his future at the club,” the source unpacked following the latest developments.
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Chiefs recorded a 2-0 win over Stellenbosch on the weekend, with first assistant coach Khalil Ben Youssef and second assistant coach Cedric Kaze calling the shots, in what was a confidence booster following the unconvincing results on the preseason tour in Europe.
While it remains to be seen what transpires on Nabi’s return, the club and their loving fans will take confidence from the three points on the weekend. However, they will want to ensure that the coach is aligned with the club’s vision going forward.
Soccer Laduma contacted Chiefs for comment on Nabi's situation, but the club had not responded by the time this report was published.
