Senegal to prioritize local expertise for coach, says football federation president

DAKAR, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) — Senegal will give priority to local expertise for the post of national coach of the men’s national football team, announced on Wednesday the president of the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) Augustin Senghor.
“We are not going to make an international call for candidates. We are very faithful to our idea of trusting local expertise. We will not deviate from this rule. Our vision remains unchanged and we will give priority to Senegalese technicians, whether in Senegal or abroad,” he said.
In early October, the Senegalese government, through the Ministry of Sports, did not renew the contract of national coach Aliou Cisse.
His deputy, Pape Thiaw, has since served as interim coach.
“It is too early to talk about whether Pape Thiaw will stay on or not. We owe it to our national team and the Senegalese people to take this matter seriously. We need to define selection criteria and profiles. The federation’s executive committee will meet in the coming weeks to work on this,” said Senghor.
Senegal’s national football team ended their 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers on a high note on Tuesday night with a 2-0 victory over Burundi.
Senegal remained unbeaten in the qualifiers with five wins and one draw. ■