New Vipers FC coach Ivan Minnaert insists he and his club share the same ambition of reaching the group stages of the CAF Champions League. The Ugandan champions will represent Uganda in the CAF Champions League during the 2025/26 season and they hope the newly-appointed Belgian coach can help them achieve at least the group stages. “Vipers and I should be the perfect match. Aggressive, disciplined, offensive football, and that can guide us to be better in the Champions League and the domestic league. We want to progress to group stages but we have to work for it. It is a possible feat, but absolutely a tough one,” Minnaert told Times Sport. “Now the task, and of course the target, is the group stages of the Champions League and continue with the current good foundation of the club,” he added. Asked if he has plans to sign some players from Rwanda, the Belgian coach said that, “we have had talks with some of them in the past, but never concrete. We have time to prepare the team; a lot of things will change in that time.” Minnaert joined Vipers fresh off a successful stint in Liberia, where he guided Fassell FC to a league title. He will work with John Ayala Luyinda and Fred Muhumuza who were both part of the coaching staff that helped the the Kitende-based team clinch their seventh league title. The club also won the title in 2009/10, 2014/15, 2017/18, 2019/20, 2021/22 and 2022/23. Minnaert previously coached teams like Libya’s Al-Ittihad Tripoli, Spain’s Union Estepona CF, Kenya’s AFC Leopards, and several Rwandan clubs including Rayon Sports, Mukura Victory Sports, and Gorilla FC.
