Adelaide United head coach Carl Veart hit out at rival Isuzu UTE A-League clubs for trying to prevent Nestory Irankunda from playing over the weekend in a passionate defence of the Bayern Munich-bound talent.
Irankunda scored a stunning goal and missed a last-gasp penalty in a 2-1 loss to 10-man Macarthur FC on Friday night after the lead-up to the Coopers Stadium showdown was dominated by the 18-year-old and his situation with the Olyroos.
The Adelaide sensation was overlooked for Australia’s initial AFC Under-23 Asian Cup squad but was reportedly sounded out as a potential injury replacement for Melbourne City’s Marco Tilio this month’s tournament.
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There were claims Irankunda turned down a call-up from Tony Vidmar and the Olyroos but Veart revealed what transpired during the week after a report that two clubs lobbied Football Australia to have the youngster stood down for the final weeks of the season.
“He didn’t speak at all to anyone from the FA. There was no contact whatsoever from the FA to Nestor so I don’t know where it’s coming from,” Veart told reporters, with Adelaide due to face Western United at the Regional Football Facility, Tarneit on Tuesday night.
“I had a conversation with Tony Vidmar before the squad was announced. I had a conversation after the squad was announced and I had conversation with him this week. At no time did they select him.
“It’s disappointing that two clubs wanted to try to stop a young player from playing football. It says more about those two clubs than it does about Nestor.
“You always want to see young players playing and to go down that path was disappointing.”
Veart continued: “He has a long way to go. We’ve tried to help him as much as we can for the next part of his journey.
“It’s going to be difficult for him but I think it’s going to be better for him to leave the country and go play over there because here we just don’t know how to look after young players.
“It’s disappointing the amount of talk about him. It’s going to make it easier for him. I can have press conferences where every question’s not about Nestor.”
Asked why he believes Australians don’t know how to treat young players, the Adelaide boss responded: “You just have to look at what’s happened the last few days with Nestor.
“We’re always having a go instead of supporting our young players and not put them quite high so we can knock them down. We should always be looking to push them up.
“We always look at the negative and try to take away what are the good things instead of focusing on the positive stuff.”
