Through signs and hand gestures, Iraqi coach inspires footballers

Kadhim Flayeh lost his voice after cancer forced the removal of his larynx last year, but that has not stopped the 57-year-old from coaching Baghdad’s Air Force Club youth team.

Kadhim Flayeh, 57, had his larynx removed last year due to cancer but continues to coach Baghdad’s Air Force Club youth team using sign language and hand gestures. Sabah Arar / AFP / January 30, 2017

BAGHDAD // Kadhim Flayeh taps three fingers on his watch to signal kick-off; four raised fingers tells his football team to pressure their opponents.

One of Iraq’s top football coaches, Flayeh lost his voice after cancer forced the removal of his larynx last year. But that has not stopped the 57-year-old from coaching Baghdad’s Air Force Club youth team.

Sometimes he communicates using an electro-larynx, a small device whose vibrations produce a synthetic voice. When that becomes uncomfortable he writes his instructions on paper for an assistant to read out.

“Sometimes a look is enough to put across what I want to say,” Flayeh says.

But on the pitch, hand signals are key.

“I use sign language to tell the players what to concentrate on during training and matches,” he says.

“The key thing I have to tell them is not to argue with the referee. When I raise four fingers on one hand it means they need to press the opponent – they understand that well.”

During training sessions and matches, he issues instructions with gestures. He opens his arms wide and the players spread out across the pitch; he reduces the gap and they adopt a more compact formation. Two raised fingers on one hand and one on the other tells the players to mark their opponents, two against one.

Flayeh has become one of the most popular coaches in Iraq since taking charge of the Air Force Club youth team in 1998.

Local media call him “the star scout”, a name he has earned by training up some of the top names in Iraqi football.

His players call him “the inspirer”.

“We have no difficulty understanding what he wants. On the contrary we have started to quickly understand his signs,” says Sadiq Binwan, 17.

“We are happy when he raises both fists – it means he is satisfied with us.”

The Air Force Club’s youth team won the local championship this season and many of its players graduate to the club’s first team, which won the Asian Football Confederation Cup last year.

Despite success on the pitch, the club is in a financial crisis.

“The players have continued their training without getting paid and I haven’t received my salary [about Dh1,500] for two months because of the club’s financial situation,” Flayeh says.

He was forced to sell his car and some personal belongings to finance his laryngectomy in Beirut. An operation in Germany to restore his voice would cost $50,000 (Dh184,000), but he says that is beyond his means.

A fundraising campaign for the operation, launched by his former players, has raised $3,500 so far.

But the club’s financial difficulties and Flayeh’s illness have only strengthened the relationship between the coach and his young charges.

“Our trainer’s patience with his health problems and his determination to work increases our determination too, and it makes us want to tackle all the obstacles the team is facing,” says Sadiq.

* Agence France-Presse