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Antwerp –
After almost two months, Rik De Mil thought the time was right to pour clear wine about KVC Westerlo – Racing Genk. The ex-coach of the Gamecocks explains what really happened.
There are few football coaches who were as tormented by ethical dilemmas in the early years of their careers as Rik De Mil. Last football year he finished the season as coach of Club Brugge. Before the last match against Union, some blue-black supporters argued for a defeat to prevent arch-rival Royal Antwerp FC from becoming champions. Rik De Mil and his crew agreed to fulfill their sporting duties and go all out for victory. And so it happened: Homma shot Union’s title dream to pieces and Antwerp seized the national title. “I’m pleased that it happened that way. You always have a correct feeling about it,” says De Mil.
Sporting duty
The accusations that he did not fulfill his sporting duty during the KVC Westerlo – Racing Genk match hurt him. “There were just an incredible number of lies told.” De Mil had to save the Gamecocks from relegation. On the last matchday at home against Racing Genk, one point guaranteed an extended stay in the highest football class. “But we went 100 percent for the win,” said De Mil. Westerlo took the lead, but swallowed the equalizer late in the match against ten-man Genk. “The only thing I said to the players at the time was: ‘Don’t take untold risks, make sure the organization stays and don’t do stupid things.’ That’s how the situation came about.”
“The only thing I said to the players at the time was: ‘Don’t take untold risks, make sure the organization stays and don’t do stupid things.’ That’s how the situation came about”
Rick De Mille
Ex-coach KVC Westerlo
With that situation, De Mil refers to the uncomfortable four minutes in which the ball was passed around aimlessly and Madsen (KVC Westerlo) and Kayembe (Racing Genk) did a one-two.
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Expensive one-two punch
Those awkward four minutes assured Westerlo of retention and Genk of Play-off 1, but cost Rik De Mil his job. “Yes, then you are broken. Because you work for something for months at a time, realize it and then it happens,” De Mil reflects.
Accusations of match fixing continued to fly. De Mil isolated himself. “Then you have two choices: either you react immediately and go on the attack or you remain serene, you know the truth and it will emerge sooner or later.” After the federal prosecutor had finished, De Mil gave his version of the facts. “I waited until the very end and then told the correct story with everything that was in me – that had been there for a long time.”
De Mil’s return was not long in coming. “Mehdi Bayat contacted me immediately and we had a conversation three hours after my discharge.” After a few days of reflection, De Mil became trainer of Charleroi, which he recently also kept in 1A.
Time heals all wounds. Looking back on his stay in Westerlo, what remains with him is the great collaboration with players, staff and other employees. “If I see them again, it will be positive. You should not take that as a failed passage,” De Mil concludes. De Mil’s past suggests that Charleroi will still go all out in the remaining match, despite being assured of retention.