Sports
Senegal Hopes To Name New Coach Within Two Weeks
The president of the Senegal Football Federation (FSF) says he hopes to name a new coach within two weeks.
Augustin Senghor explained Senegal’s recent presidential elections had slowed the search for a replacement for Amara Traore.
“Now the elections are behind us, I think the government will be further in place next week,” he told BBC Sport.
“Then it will be a priority for us to talk to the new minister of sport to finalise the new coach.”
Senegal have been without a coach since sacking Traore shortly after their first round exit from the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.
Senghor says they have already had coaches from around the world expressing an interest in the Teranga Lions job.
“We have several requests of great coaches coming from all around the world,” he said.
“They want to lead the Senegal team. The reason for me is simple – they know we have players with very good potential and that we have the chance to go to the next Nations Cup or World Cup.
“But what we want to do is find the best coach for our team, because it is time now for us to prove that we are not losers all the time.”
Despite reaching the 2002 World Cup quarter-finals the Teranga Lions have never lifted the Nations Cup.
Senghor seemed to distance himself from reports in the Senegalese media that former Egypt coach Hassan Shehata is being lined up to take over.
“Shehata is a very good coach but there may be a problem of language because we are not sure that he can work or speak with the players in English or French,” he said.
“And we don’t have enough time to work with interpreters or translators, which is why the language will be very important.”
The FSF president insisted that the nationality of the new coach is not an issue.
“What we decided in our executive committee is not to limit ourselves over the nationality or origin of the coach,” he insisted.
“We have a profile with some criteria – competence and experience – but we also need a charismatic coach.
“Because when you have to rule players coming from very great teams in Europe, and professionals of a high level, you have to be someone very charismatic.
“We think that if a coach fills all these criteria, we will take him – whether he is European, African or Senegalese. We will just take the best profile.
“We have several names in mind, but we don’t want to give these names now.”
Whoever takes over will have to deal with players such as the Newcastle United duo of Demba Ba and Papiss Demba Cisse as well as Turkey-based Moussa Sow.
The first job for the new Teranga Lions boss will be to prepare the team for their 2014 World Cup qualifiers in June.
They begin their Group J campaign by hosting Liberia on the first weekend of June before travelling to play Uganda a week later, Angola are the other team in the group.
Hon Dike who spoke with sports journalists shortly after the flag off the 2024 edition of Chairman’s Football Unity Tournament at Botem Tai in Tai LGA, said the tournament is an annual event to promote peace and unity in Tai as well identify budding talents in the area for global competition.
The opening ceremony of the tournament was more like a carnival was witnessed by huge crowd including prominent indigenes of Ogoni Kingdom, sports lovers and people from all works of life.
The LGA boss revealed that special sports committee will be setup in the area to work out modalities to strengthen sports development in Tai.
He advised the participants in the tournament from various wards in the LGA to play the game by the rules and conduct themselves in a peaceful and orderly manner and use the opportunity to showcase their talents.
Hon Dike further disclosed that his administration will also give priority attention to skills development among the youth to enhance their human capacity and promote enterprise development in the area.
Earlier in his address the Chairman of Tai LGA Football Council, Elder Wisdom Gorgor said the annual football competition has been a unifying factor in Tai LGA that need to be sustained to forge more unity and development in the area.
He urged the participants to see the competition as an opportunity to embrace football as a full career and earn sustainable livelihood.
Elder Gorgor who commended the Chairman of Tai LGA, Hon Dike for his visionary leadership and tremendous development achievements recorded in the LGA under his administration, appealled to the Chairman to build a Mini Sports Stadium in the area to promote sporting activities.
The training was held at the Sani Abacha Stadium Indoor Basketball Court in Kano last Saturday.
According to the Vice President and Head of NBA Nigeria, Gbemisola Abudu, the event was part of the league’s commitment to growing broader basketball ecosystem in Nigeria and making the game more accessible across the country.
“Our first Jr. NBA clinic in Kano speaks to our commitment to growing the game in Nigeria and creating more opportunities for boys and girls to learn and play the game,” Abudu said.
“Nigeria has a rich basketball history and abundance of talent, which is evident every time you watch an NBA game. We look forward to continuing to engage with basketball stakeholders, business leaders and members of the community to further the game’s reach and impact on young people around the country,” she added.
The 2024 basketball initiative clinics of NBA Nigeria also included the league’s inaugural Jr. NBA elite camp for 150 boys and age-16 girls held at the American International School in Lagos in July.
Others include the NBA’s building of 1,000 courts in Africa over the next decade, Nigeria’s Festival Coins and Salubata named the top two winning businesses at NBA Africa Triple-Double Accelerator’s inaugural Demo Day in New York City held last September, and the third edition of “NBA Meets Art,” a curated installation celebrating basketball through the lens of Nigerian art and culture as part of West Africa’s premier art fair Art X Lagos, held in November.
Central to this vision is the federation’s investment in capacity building, evident in the just-concluded one-week Level 1 Badminton World Federation (BWF) Coaching Course, which marked a significant milestone for Nigerian badminton.
Held in Abuja, the course brought together 13 young coaches from across Nigeria. The last time such a course was held in the country was in 2017, making this a historic and transformative step.
The training was facilitated by the Badminton Confederation of Africa (BCA) in partnership with the Badminton Federation of Nigeria (BFN) and conducted by Dr. Ahmed Radah, the BCA Development Manager.
Radah, impressed by the talent he witnessed, praised Nigeria’s potential.
“Nigeria is blessed with immense talent and a strong badminton tradition. I believe this country has what it takes to dominate on the global stage,” he remarked.
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