After five years, APR FC expects to reappoint Serbian coach Ljubomir ‘Ljupko’ Petrovic as head coach, Times Sport understands.
APR is set to reappoint the 76-year-old Serbian coach returning for a third time but this time he is expected to bring his coaching staff including Montenegrin Miodrag Radulović.
A reliable source confirmed to Times Sport that Petrovic will be offered a two-year renewable contract.
Petrovic, who won the UEFA Champions League with Red Star Belgrade in 1991 will be tasked to help the club to do better particularly at the continental level (reaching the group stages) on top of winning the national league and Peace Cup.
It is Petrovic’s third spell as APR coach, having worked at the army side from 2014-2015 before resigning citing ‘unfulfilled promises. He returned to the military side in 2018 before quitting again after a few months.
Meanwhile, APR is looking to sign foreign players so as to challenge and reach the group stages of the CAF Champions League.
Some of the players they are trying to sign include Allan Kayiwa (Express FC), Milton Kalisa (Vipers SC) of Uganda, Nigerian Adepoje Adebare Babatunde who played for Nyasa Big Bullets, and Joackiam Ojera of URA FC who was loaned o Rayon Sports last season.
The new Chairman of APR FC, Lt Col Richard Karasira, said that there are eight players who can be bought but who are not going to sit on the bench.
He said:
“We are in the process of recruiting the best players in the country and abroad who will help us reach as far as possible.
“We will try to find players to help us achieve that goal. We don’t want to bring someone who will lie to Rwandans, who will lie to APR, who will sit on the bench. It wouldn’t be right, especially since they’re from so far away.”
In the past few years, APR has been a dominant force in domestic football, winning three consecutive league titles, but that has not been the case on the continental stage, after its bowing out of the CAF Champions League in preliminary rounds on consecutive occasions.
Source: The New Times
