Ketsbaia resigns as Anorthosis manager

Temuri Ketsbaia on Monday resigned from his position as manager of Cypriot champions Anorthosis Famagusta only months after taking them to the Champions League group stage, the club said.

A statement from the club said the 40-year-old Georgian had handed in his resignation to the board during a routine meeting on Monday evening.

Ketsbaia told the board his resignation was with immediate effect and the decision came after much “soul searching” but was done for the “best interests of Anorthosis”.

“At first the board did not accept his resignation and requested it be withdrawn. Mr Ketsbaia stuck to his position and said his decision to cut short his association with the club was final,” said Anorthosis.

“The board would like to express its regret and thank Mr Ketsbaia for everything he has done as he was the main instigator of our Champions League success this season,” the club statement added.

Anorthosis said this season was the “brightest page” in its 98-year history.

Ketsbaia made history when Anorthosis became the first Cyprus team ever to reach the group stage of Europe’s premier competition.

Although they failed to qualify for the knock-out phase or even the UEFA Cup, the team remained unbeaten at home; beating Panathinaikos and holding both Inter Milan and Werder Bremen in games they could easily have won.

But apart from the Champions League achievement that put Cyprus football on the European map, Anorthosis have been disappointing on the domestic front this season.

They have failed to win against their main Nicosia rivals APOEL and Omonia, were dumped out of the Cyprus cup at a relatively early stage and APOEL are expected to be crowned the new champions needing only one point from their last three games.

Anorthosis’ season began to fall apart last November when their then chairman Andreas Panteli was arrested on embezzlement claims.

He later resigned “for the good of the club” and Ketsbaia had lost his closest ally.

Panteli had brought the former Newcastle player and Georgia international to Anorthosis as they were close personal friends.

Ketsbaia played for Anorthosis between 1992-1994 before moving on to AEK Athens and then the Premiership with Newcastle.

He returned to the Cypriot side as player-coach in the summer of 2002 securing two league titles (2005 and 2008) and retired as a player in 2007.

The club is now searching for a new manager but there are no clear front runners at present.