I was interested in Zebras job - Desailly
Mqondisi Dube | Wednesday April 2, 2014 11:02
He said he had tasked his agent to speak to the BFA about the Zebras post. “My agent was handling everything, but as you are now aware, the BFA settled for Butler,” said Desailly who enjoyed a distinguished club football career in France, Italy and England.
The former AC Milan and Marseille midfield ace, said he is willing to take up a coaching job particularly in his native Africa. Desailly was born in Ghana, but moved to France when he was four years old. He won the World Cup in 1998 and Euro 2000 with France and the Champions League with Marseille in 1993 and AC Milan the following year.
Meanwhile, Desailly reiterated the need to improve the quality of African football leagues. He said there is need to re-brand the African leagues and improve its administrative structures.
Desailly was one of the former stars at the Johannesburg Zoo Lake where the Barclays Premier League had arranged an event to thank African fans for their support. African fans remain the best supporters of the Barclays Premier League with Botswana among the leading nations.
Barclays Premier League chief executive officer, Richard Scudamore said African fans have remained loyal to what is arguably the most competitive league in the world.
He said interest in the English game grew considerably when African players started moving to England.
Scudamore denied that growing interest in the English game was detrimental to African leagues’ growth.
“We are not exploiting Africa. We cannot stop people from showing an interest in the English game. We are an electronic product and we do not want to take the shine off the local product. The local league should be number one,” Scudamore said.
The English Premier League is now worth 3.5 billion pounds driven largely by television rights and other sponsorships. The league has a global audience of four billion, up from 50 million in 1992.