A former Manchester United youth player Ashley Westwood has been named manager of the Afghanistan national team.
The surprise move comes amid unrest within the Afghanistan squad, with 18 players threatening to boycott their upcoming World Cup qualifier against Qatar due to suffering ‘substandard’ treatment by the Afghanistan Football Federation.
The Guardian claim they had seen a letter signed by three Afghanistan internationals. That letter listed how unhappy the players were with how the team was run, so it will be up to Ashley Westwood to turn things around and get results on the pitch.
Afghanistan begin their World Cup qualification campaign later this month. They will face India and Kuwait as well as Qatar for a place in the world’s biggest international football tournament.
According to the Daily Mail, Westwood has agreed a one-year contract with Afghanistan to become their manager. That means he has eight days to prepare his players for their clash against Qatar, which is far from ideal.
The Afghanistan Football Federation took to social media on Wednesday to share images of Westwood holding up the national team’s shirt at a press conference.
Ashley Westwood officially named Afghanistan head coach on a 1 year contract.
He has a daunting task ahead with 18 players boycotting the federation until AFF dictator Kargar leaves.#KargarOut https://t.co/5rbqIEbFr2 pic.twitter.com/NqHDwV0VNb
— 🇦🇫⚽️ (@AfghanFootball_) November 8, 2023
Westwood came through the Manchester United academy, but was never given a senior debut by Sir Alex Ferguson. Instead he was sold to Crewe Alexandra before going on to play for Bradford City, Sheffield Wednesday, Northampton Town, Chester City, Stevenage, Wrexham, Kettering Town, Lincoln City and Portsmouth.
In 2014, as manager of Bengaluru FC, Westwood won the I-League title to become the youngest coach to ever win the domestic competition. He has also worked in Mayalysia.
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