Ivan Minnaert
Belgian football coach
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Ivan Jacky Minnaert is a Belgian football coach who was assigned to Vipers SC of the Startimes Uganda Premier League and they parted their ways on mutual ground after his contract expired.[1][2] He holds a Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Professional Licence, the highest football coaching qualification. He received the UEFA Pro Licence in 2012 from the Football Association of Spain.
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Ivan Minnaert press conference | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ivan Jacky Minnaert | ||
| Place of birth | Belgium | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| Years | Team | ||
| 2002–2005 | CD Guadiaro (youth) | ||
| 2007–2009 | Atlético Zabal | ||
| 2009–2011 | Unión Estepona CF | ||
| 2011–2012 | UD Testorillo | ||
| 2012–2013 | CD San Roque | ||
| 2013 | VB Addu FC | ||
| 2014 | Al-Ittihad (youth) | ||
| 2014–2015 | Djoliba AC | ||
| 2015–2016 | Rayon Sports F.C. | ||
| 2016 | AFC Leopards | ||
| 2017 | Mukura Victory Sports F.C. | ||
| 2017 | AS Kaloum Star | ||
| 2017 | Black Leopards F.C. | ||
| 2018 | Rayon Sports F.C. | ||
| 2018–2020 | Al-Ittihad Tripoli | ||
| 18th July 2025- 7th June 2025 | Vipers SC | ||
Career
Mali
Presented the head coach of Djoliba AC in autumn 2014,[3] Minnaert set his sights on staying at the club for ten years and earning at least one trophy for them[4] but stepped down from his position in 2015 when Djoliba games were invalidated, causing relegation to the second division before visiting Mali again in 2017.[5]
Kenya
Negotiating a contract with AFC Leopards of the Kenyan Premier League in early 2016,[6] the Belgian signed a two-year deal with Ingwe in late February,[7] ending the unbeaten run of 35 games in the KPL of Gor Mahia, voted KPL coach of the month March but was fired by August for poor results,[8] including a six-game winless run,[9] despite being second early on,[10] with some urging him to step down beforehand.[11] In the end, he decided to sue AFC Leopards for salaries owed, which amounted to 24000 US dollars.[12]
Guinea
Replacing Adda Benamar at AS Kaloum Star in mid 2017,[13] Minnaert made the quarterfinals of the Guinée Coupe Nationale,[14] his task was to escape relegation what he did.[15]
South Africa
Assisting fellow Belgian Jean-François Losciuto at Black Leopards of the South African National First Division in late autumn 2017,[16] the former director became caretaker of the team a few days later,[17] making it the objective to achieve promotion and applied an offensive system in the team.[18] However, when directing them to 10th place in 15 matches, he was slated to be fired.[19]
Rwanda
Accepting a six-month contract with Mukura Victory at the start of 2017,[20] the former Rayon Sport coach pledged to improve results and turn around the season,[21][22] beating Pepiniere FC 1–0 in his debut[21] at the end of his contract arranging a deal with AS Kaloum Star of Guinea that summer.[23]
Head coach of Rayon Sports of the Rwanda National Football League from November 2015[24] to February 2016,[25] he was awarded another contract with Gikundiro in spring 2018,[26] taking them to the 2018 CAF Confederation Cup, historic qualification of a Rwandian team, where they were pooled with USM Alger, Young Africans, and Gor Mahia in Group D and stated that reaching the quarterfinals would be an onerous task.[27]
Libya
Appointed as technical director of the academy and head coach of the U20, the 3 teams under his supervision win all the games of the league (U15 : 9 wins; U17 : 9 wins; U20 : 9 wins) In a friendly game against the first team, the team he coached (the U20) impress everybody. A few weeks later he take over the first team and started with a 2–0 win against AlIttihad Misrata, after a 3–0 win against Rafeeq the league stopped in April due to the circumstances in the country. After a break of 4 months he started a short preparation of 2 weeks to classify Al Ittihad for the 1/16 finals of the CAF Confederation cup against USGN of Niger (1–1 away game and 2–0 win home game) Stats : First division Libyan league : 2 Games 2 Wins (goals 5–0) Caf Confederation Cup : 2 Games 1 draw 1 win (goals 3–1)
Uganda
On 18 July 2025, he was appointed as the head coach of Vipers SC. He took a managerial role in this great Ugandan club led by Lawrence Mulindwa. He led the team to their eighth Uganda Premier League title as well as the Uganda Cup semi-finals, though they were eliminated by Kitara FC. Minnaert earned the 2025/26 Uganda Premier League Coach of the Season award for outstanding achievements. Later, he departed on 7 June 2026 following expiry of his contract.[28][29]
CAF Competitions
CAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE : WINS 5 DRAW 2 LOST 2 CAF CONFEDERATION CUP : WINS 4 DRAW 2 LOST 2 CAF GROUP STAGE : WINS 2 DRAW 3 LOST 1