Tam Courts was embroiled in a racism storm in his final match as Honved head coach.
Fans of the Budapest outfit were accused of aiming abhorrent monkey noises at Zalaegerszegi TE player Christy Mazinga, who formerly turned out for Motherwell.
Zalaegerszegi boss Ricardo Moniz marched onto the field during Saturday’s fixture — which Honved won 2-0 — to confront the referee regarding the abuse.
He receive a red card in the process.
Moniz then ordered his team to leave the pitch, placing the game in serious doubt.
Tijdens een competitiewedstrijd krijgt een speler van de Hongaarse club Zalaegerszegi, waar Moniz trainer is, te maken met racisme. Na verschillende oerwoudgeluiden is de maat vol voor de Rotterdammer. pic.twitter.com/JbjvEEGDxx
— NOS Sport (@NOSsport) October 24, 2022
Talks between the referee, Moniz and Courts followed and, despite Zalaegerszegi initially going to the dressing room, they returned to fulfil the fixture — with reports in Hungary suggesting they were fearful of a points deduction.
And Courts faced questioning regarding the ugly scenes in the aftermath of the fixture.
He told M4 Sport: “I was aware there was an altercation.
“We spoke to the Zalaegerszegi head coach and, with any form of racism that happens, I always sympathise.
“I didn’t hear anything myself today and I knew my team would have a challenge to refocus and keep concentrated because it was 10 minutes, essentially, with no activity.
“I wanted to offer support to Mr Moniz but also try to focus on the pitch because I didn’t actually hear anything as the game was going on.”
Moniz, by contrast, stated: “The teams on both sides stand with pure hearts — monkey noises and racist comments have no place on the field. If this happens, everyone loses. All players are equal and this should not be allowed.”
Swift replacement
Despite the victory, the controversial fixture would prove to be Courts’ last game in charge of Honved.
He departed the club “by mutual agreement” on Monday afternoon, after just four months — and 14 competitive fixtures — at the helm.
Prior to his exit, Courts gave no sign of an impending parting of the ways. However, he did acknowledge mounting pressure.
Speaking on Saturday, he said: “In the first round of games, we feel like we should have more points, which would have us higher up the league table. Because we haven’t had those points, that’s put the team under a bit of pressure.”
Within hours of Courts’ departure being confirmed, Honved announced the appointment of Croatian boss Dean Klafuric.
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