Anderlecht coach told: Get qualified... or we’ll ban you!

VINCENT KOMPANY’S plans to manage Anderlecht are in the balance after it emerged the former Manchester City defender still doesn’t have the required coaching badges.

The 34-year-old announced his retirement as a player earlier this month so that he could take sole charge of the Belgian club.

He returned to Anderlecht as playermanager at the start of last season after leading City to a domestic quadruple – and was granted a six-month window to get the necessary UEFA Pro Licence qualification.

The Brussels club were fined £4,500 because of the oversight.

Anderlecht’s defence was that head coach Simon Davies was in charge of team affairs on match days.

And club lawyer Bert Van der Auwera even claimed Kompany’s appointment had been a PR stunt – but that was not accepted by the Belgian FA.

The club then appointed former coach Frank Vercauteren as manager. But he stepped aside after a disappointing season which saw Anderlecht struggling in eighth place in the Jupiler Pro League before the campaign was cancelled due to the pandemic.

Injuries limited Kompany to just 15 appearances. And when he suffered a muscle problem in a pre-season game, it was confirmed he would be taking over from Vercauteren.

Nils Van Brantegem, licence manager of the Belgian League, said: “Kompany has had his warning – and he should be aware of that.”

It was the worst-kept secret in Belgium that Vercauteren had been appointed to tick a box and that Kompany was in charge of team affairs.

He now faces a race against time to get his coaching badges – and faces a stadium ban and fine if he fails to meet the criteria.

Kompany spent 11 years at City, with the club revealing that a statue has been commissioned in his honour.

He joined the Blues in a £6million deal from Hamburg in 2008 after coming through the youth system at Anderlecht.

Kompany was handed a £104,000-a-week contract when he returned to the club that launched his career last summer, after turning down the offer of a one-year contract extension with City.