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Olaroiu focused on title charge

Cosmin Olaroiu insists his concentration remains on Al Ahli’s title charge, despite being hit by a prospectively costly double blow on and off the pitch late on Sunday evening here.

As the Romanian coach’s side slumped to a 2-1 reverse at Al Wasl, news broke that a UAE FA arbitration tribunal had provisionally slapped him with a six-month suspension and hefty Dh100,000 fine for allegedly reneging on an agreed contract with his former employers Al Ain. Olaroiu was understandably somewhat reluctant to comment at length about the findings of the 30-page report in his post-match press conference as he hadn’t had sufficient time to study it at that particular stage.

However, the former boss of The Boss stressed it wouldn’t be occupying his time unduly as he focuses on keeping Ahli at the top of the table in the Arabian Gulf League. “I will not concentrate on it,” said Olaroiu of the judgement, which isn’t — as yet — binding and may still be taken by Ahli to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland if, as and when it finally is.

“I will just concentrate on my team for the upcoming matches. This issue will not affect me. We have to wait for the final decision, but I don’t understand why Al Ain have done this. They knew very well I didn’t want to continue with them. They were in Bucharest, where they stayed with me, and I told them I didn’t want to continue, but this is (about) documents.”

Olaroiu meanwhile put Ahli’s surprise loss to the Cheetahs down to an arrogant and over-confident approach by his players, with their veneer of ‘invincibility’ ultimately shattered by Hector Cuper’s men.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best day — and result — for us,” he added. “We thought that nobody can beat us and it was wrong to think that way. “We didn’t play with the same attitude and spirit as we have done in our previous matches.

“We made some mistakes, especially at set pieces and in the standard situations, and we conceded two goals. Everyone wants to win against us. Al Wasl played a tough game; they were very aggressive, pressed a lot and didn’t give us much space.

“They played with more aggression and spirit than us and they won in the end. This is not agreeable and you cannot enjoy it, but it’s important now to learn from this painful lesson and go for the next game against Al Shabab.”