APR has tasked newly contracted head coach Adil Erradi with a daring task to guide the team to the lustrous group stage of the CAF Champions League, a level no Rwandan side has ever achieved in the continent’s premier club competition. The Moroccan tactician, who was signed in 2019, extended his contract with the army side last month, with his new deal running until the 2021/22 season. In his first season, he guided APR to a stunning unbeaten record as they were crowned Rwanda Premier League champions at match-day 23 of the coronavirus-hit 2019/20 season. Usually, the 16-team league comprises 30 match rounds. Erradi’s second term at the club comes when APR has already been confirmed to carry the national flag to next season’s CAF Champions League, a showpiece where Rwandan teams have generally never performed so well. In an exclusive interview with Times Sport over the weekend, APR Secretary General, Lt. Col. Sylvestre Sekaramba, revealed some of the targets that Erradi has been tasked with – on the local and international scene. Retaining the league title and leading the team to the coveted group stage of the Champions League, Sekaramba says, are the two most important priorities. “After Adil [Erradi] served out his one-year stint and evaluating his performance, we decided to extend his contract for another two-years. We asked him to continue to win local trophies and take APR to the group stage in the Champions League,” Sekaramba noted. He further underscored that the team is capable of achieving the set targets, and it is possible that the club may not sign any new player in the ongoing transfer window “unless the coach deems it necessary”. Meanwhile, the black-and-white outfit has started the search for an assistant coach to deputise Erradi following the departure of Nabil Bekroui whose one-year contract expired last month. According to a source with firsthand knowledge, Erradi’s new deal will see him earn $20,000 (about Rwf19 million) per month, up from $18,000 he was earning under the initial contract.
