Sportswire has been informed that Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi is not leaving the club, despite earlier reports.

Following Chiefs’ Nedbank Cup title victory at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on 10 May, news surfaced that the club intended to part ways with Nabi due to unsatisfactory results. However, Chiefs management quickly dispelled these rumors, confirming that the coach has one year remaining on his contract with the Amakhosi.

According to a source close to the Naturena-based side, Nabi will remain in charge this season and will lead the team during their pre-season preparations in the Netherlands early next month.

Nabi was appointed at the start of last season with the mandate to rebuild Chiefs, who had finished outside the top eight under Molefi Ntseki and Cavin Johnson in the previous season. Finishing in the top eight was crucial for Nabi, but Chiefs experienced inconsistent results, winning only eight of their 28 league matches. The club also struggled with goal-scoring, netting 25 and conceding 32, accumulating only 32 points.

However, Nabi, who consistently emphasized rebuilding, ended Chiefs’ ten-year trophy drought stretching back to the 2014/15 season. This achievement had eluded previous coaches such as Steve Komphela, Giovanni Solinas, Ernst Middendorp, Arthur Zwane, and Stuart Baxter (during his second spell).

“The news is not coming from me, it’s from journalists, please, and this is not respect. Why every time ‘Nabi stay or going,’ for what? I respect all journalists, and I need all journalists to respect me because this news is bad for me and creates confusion in my team,” the 59-year-old tactician once stated last term about his future.

“This is bad, it’s not correct, it’s not professional. The information is not correct. The whole of Africa is calling me, thinking I am free because I am finished with Kaizer Chiefs, and it’s not correct, please be professional.”

According to Sportswire, winning the Nedbank Cup has granted Nabi more time and another opportunity for the upcoming season. While Chiefs have been far from challenging for the league title since Middendorp’s 2019/20 season, it is unclear what specific mandate will be given to Nabi for the coming season.

However, securing a top-eight finish is vital for Chiefs, and missing out for the second consecutive season has not been well-received by the Naturena club’s hierarchy.