In accordance with the executive committee of the Federation of Senegalese Football (FSF), president Augustin Senghor has 30 days to find and appoint the replacement of Amara Traoré. In effect the Teranga Lions are currently under the leadership of interim coach, Karim Sega Diouf (currently the U-23 coach), and his assistant Aliou Cisse (former 2002 captain of Teranga Lions). The mission is to find a coach with “experience at the high level”, and thus it is causing some ambivalence within the FSF as dossiers of candidatures pile up on President Senghor’s desk.
The next upcoming match is a World Cup qualifier at home to Liberia on the 1st of June. Amara Traoré was sacked on the 7th of February and there are still uncertainties, with only rumors out there, on who might take the head of the Senegal national team. From what I have understood is that many have officially postulated for the job, and indeed many international coaches but not a single Senegalese one has. Only Lamine Dieng (former ASC Diaraf coach & now free) has voiced his interest but didn’t officially postulate his interest under the pretext that he is “sufficiently known by those involved in the selection process”.
On the current list of candidates, the president of the FSF corroborates that they have “a very cosmopolitan list of postulants and of many different nations & languages from Croatians to French or even Germans to English.” He himself confirms that he is “sad & surprised to not have received any official interest in the position from local coaches.” President Senghor adds that they will sit down to determine the correct profile of the next manager is to be, relative to the objectives they are setting out for the national team. He however stresses that the criteria of the language will be an important one as “coaching is firstly about communication.” He tames that comment though, reassuring that it will not prevent anyone from getting the job. The president of the FSF concludes with the explanation: “if we think a good German or Italian coach can better fulfill the objectives & conditions of the job, and that we can procure him a translator – like many national teams and big clubs do it today – then we won’t hesitate to do so. However it is obviously economical, both time-wise & financially, if we appoint a coach who is able to express himself in French.”
The main issue about all this of course is that the same old debate is once again rearing its ugly head: should the head of the national team be given to a foreign manager or a local one? With the sacking of Amara Traoré it seems clear enough that the FSF has picked its side on the issue. It is also reported that should a foreign manager be hired, he will be given Aliou Cisse as assistant coach.
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