Johnny McKinstry, who was this morning relieved of his duties as Amavubi head coach, has said he was yet to be officially informed of his fate hours after it emerged that he had been shown the exit door.

Earlier in the day, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sports and Culture Lt Col Patrice Rugambwa, told The New Times that the 30-year old Irishman had been relieved of his duties following a run of dismal results with the Amavubi.

Rugambwa said the decision had been taken in a meeting that convened today morning.

McKinstry became the Amavubi head coach in January 2015 before signing a contract extension – until 2018 – in May this year.

But asked to confirm the news of his sacking shortly before mid-day today, McKinstry told The New Times, "I have seen the same rumors that you’ve seen but, at this point in time, I’ve not been informed of any anything, so I’ve no information to that effect.”

He said no official from the Ministry of Sports and Culture or the football governing body, FERWAFA, had contacted him over the development.

The former Sierra Leone head coach said he was instead looking forward to upcoming preparations for the final match – away to Ghana – in the ongoing 2017 African Nations qualifiers, slated for September 3.

McKinstry said the Amavubi will enter camp ahead of the qualifier next week.

Under McKinstry, the Amavubi have been on a freefall in the FIFA/Coca-Cola rankings, coming in a lowly 121st in the latest ranking released earlier this month.

He took over the Amavubi job when the team was ranked 68th globally, the country’s highest ever ranking.

McKinstry also leaves after seeing Amavubi fail to qualify for the 2017 African Nations finals, having lost 2-3 to Mozambique in Kigali in their latest qualifier in June, in addition to earlier 1-0 defeats to visitors Ghana and hosts Mauritius.

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