Aliou Cissé’s contract as the head coach of Senegal’s national team is set to be extended, according to an announcement by Augustin Senghor, president of the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF).
Despite a disappointing 2023 Africa Cup of Nations campaign (eliminated in the round of 16 by eventual champions Ivory Coast), Cissé had his contract extended in March last year by a year, until August 2025. “We have urgent needs in terms of qualification.
We could not afford to say we were going to change the coach. We needed to bet on continuity with the same group… That’s why the executive committee, unanimously, decided to renew its confidence in him. And we informed the authority about that,” explained the FSF president on the Galaxie Sports program on RTS.
However, since his contract was supposed to cover the next CAN 2025, originally scheduled for the summer in Morocco, the former Parisian will see his contract extended by six months. This is due to the tournament being rescheduled to an unprecedented period from December 21, 2025, to January 18, 2026. “Now it is a matter of proposing to the supervisory authority the renewal of the contract. Initially, we were supposed to extend it (Aliou Cissé) for a year to cover the next CAN. It turns out that the uncertainties in the scheduling of the event where I am, CAF, have pushed the CAN back to December. And the idea would be to propose him a renewal of a year and a half that would cover the next CAN, where we believe he will lead us, to win his second cup, with this generation of players,” elaborated the leader.
Thus, the 48-year-old coach is expected to stay at least until early 2026. This would allow him to improve his longevity record on the Lions’ bench. In any case, Augustin Senghor expressed confidence in this matter. “But, as we also know, it is the State that pays the coach’s salary, so they have a say in this. But I think they will support us in this,” assured the vice-president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF). “Already, we play in September, and the contract ends at the end of August. It will be difficult to move towards something else.”
He added: “He (Aliou) is doing a good job. We rely on him to lead the upcoming challenges, including qualifying for the next World Cup. Because Senegal must continue to qualify regularly for the World Cup, regardless of who manages. Our level demands it because we are among the top 20 in the world according to the FIFA rankings. And when Aliou finishes his cycle, we can consider a change.” If they qualify for the 2026 World Cup, Cissé’s contract could be extended again for an additional six months to cover the competition.
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