Sønderjyske coach Fatah Abdirahman dismissal, Digi Mart USA News: Fatah Abdirahman was in charge of Sønderjyske for 14 matches after being presented as coach in June. A disagreement between Sønderjyske sports director Casper Daather and Abdirahman led Daather to carry out the dismissal on Friday.
Daather told TV 2 Sport after Sønderjyske’s 2-2 draw with Midtjylland on Sunday evening that the club chose to dismiss Abdirahman because it had reached a point where it no longer agreed on where the future should lead. The disagreement arose during Friday, and the club ended the cooperation that afternoon and issued a press release that evening.
Daather said the disagreement had existed from the start and would likely arise with the next coach as well. He said he did not want to go into the details, which remained within the room where he and Abdirahman met on Friday.
TV 2 Sport has been in contact with Abdirahman, who currently does not wish to comment further on the dismissal. In the press release on Friday, he said he regrets the decision.
The 34-year-old Abdirahman was presented as coach of Sønderjyske on June 19, 2026, on a four-year contract. The collaboration ended after just over four months.
According to Daather, Sønderjyske has not performed well this autumn, for many reasons. Some of the responsibility lies with him, some with the coaching staff and some with the players, and part of it is a consequence of the club not having the same financial resources as many other Superliga teams.
Daather said the club’s league position was part of the reasoning but not the whole explanation. He said the club had held regular meetings throughout the season and evaluated matches and training sessions.
Daather said the summer transfer window, which was open for about two and a half months, was challenging. Only one unexpected sale was made in the window, and other departures were planned with the coaching staff’s involvement, but players left at intervals of roughly every 14 days, making it difficult to build a settled squad before the season began.
Daather said he had hoped for a better position but stressed that Sønderjyske must always focus first on avoiding relegation. He said the club is in the early stages of a new cycle and is rebuilding.
Following the dismissal, assistant coaches Simon Poulsen and James-Oliver Pearce have taken charge of the team on an interim basis. Daather expects the arrangement to last through the end of the year.
Asked whether the decision was a failed appointment, Daather said the hiring was bold and possibly naive, but he does not regret it and is only disappointed that the partnership did not last longer.
