Sports
Aliou Cissé Dismissed As Senegal Coach After Historic Nine-Year Tenure
Aliou Cissé has officially been dismissed from his role as head coach of the Senegal national football team after a remarkable nine-and-a-half years at the helm.
The announcement comes just nine days ahead of the next round of qualifiers for the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), raising eyebrows within the football community.
Cissé, 48, made history during his tenure by leading the Teranga Lions to their first-ever continental title, triumphing in the 2021 Afcon tournament, which took place in early 2022 after a delay.
Under his guidance, Senegal emerged as Africa’s top-ranked team, maintaining this status for over four years.
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Although Cissé’s contract officially expired in August, he continued to coach the team through the recent 2025 Afcon qualifiers, which included a 1-1 draw against Burkina Faso and a narrow 1-0 victory over Burundi.
While the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) expressed a desire to extend Cissé’s contract, the decision to terminate his position was made by the country’s sports ministry, led by the newly appointed Bassirou Diomaye Faye.
This move signifies a shift in the relationship between the government, which pays the coach’s salary, and the FSF.
In a statement, the FSF thanked Cissé for his “good collaboration and his brilliant results at the head of various national selections,” wishing him success in his future endeavors.
The timing of the announcement was unexpected, particularly since Cissé had scheduled a press conference for Friday to unveil his squad for the upcoming matches against Malawi.
Cissé, who earned 35 caps as a player for Senegal, was appointed head coach in March 2015.
His leadership saw the team not only win the Nations Cup title in 2022, clinching victory over Egypt in a tense penalty shootout but also reach the finals in 2019, where they finished as runners-up.
Despite the highs of his tenure, Cissé faced challenges in the recent Afcon tournament, where Senegal’s title defense ended in disappointment with a last-16 exit following a penalty shootout loss to hosts and eventual champions Ivory Coast.
Signals have emerged that the International Association Football Federation (FIFA) would back Nigeria’s plan to reform her football administration, in view of which the entire Board of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the General Secretary, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi threw in the towel recently.
Chairman, National Sports Commission (NSC), Shehu Dikko, offered this insight in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday after meeting with FIFA and Confederation of African Football (CAF) officials in Switzerland.
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He said the government presented its reform proposals to FIFA after the resignation created a leadership vacuum within the NFF.
“After the resignation of the entire board of the NFF and the General Secretary, naturally we have a lacuna, because there was no provision in the rulebook for situations like that, where we have nobody now to run the NFF legally within the rulebook.”
According to Dikko, the government wants to undertake a comprehensive reform of Nigeria’s football structures, with the process involving consultations with stakeholders.
He said, “We told them, this is our position as a government. The government wants to undertake a comprehensive reform of the football structures in Nigeria, which is something that even FIFA knew has been on the cards for decades in Nigeria.
“So we discussed comprehensive proposals from the government, which are the issues that we think should be reformed, based on the concerns of the stakeholders, and we all agreed on that.”
Dikko said FIFA had endorsed both the resignation of the NFF board and the proposed reforms, while stressing that the process must follow the applicable rules.
“In short, FIFA endorsed the resignation, endorsed reform, agreed that the reform must happen, but it has to go through the proper process and the rulebooks, and they are ready to accommodate that,” he asserted.
Manchester City’s trophy-laden era has come under renewed scrutiny after the club was reportedly found guilty of 114 of the 115 Premier League financial-rule charges brought against it.
The reported verdict, disclosed by The Athletic on Friday, September 25, relates to alleged breaches covering the period between 2009 and 2018.
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The independent hearing lasted more than two years before the outcome emerged.
However, the case is not yet over, as the Premier League has not announced any sanction and Manchester City are expected to appeal the verdict.
The charges include allegations that the club failed to provide accurate financial information and breached rules relating to payments to players and coaches, as well as financial sustainability requirements.
City have consistently denied the allegations.
The reported verdict could have wider implications for the Premier League because the club has won eight league titles, four FA Cups, seven League Cups and one Champions League during the period in which the allegations have been investigated.
Potential sanctions under the league’s rules can include financial penalties and sporting punishments, with points deductions and expulsion among the measures that have been discussed in coverage of the case.
However, no punishment has been confirmed at this stage.
The uncertainty also means questions remain over whether any eventual sanction could affect Manchester City’s past achievements, current squad or future participation in the Premier League.
For now, the reported guilty findings mark a major development in one of English football’s longest-running disciplinary cases, but the final outcome will depend on the sanctioning process and City’s expected appeal.
Chelsea Football Club have confirmed a major ownership change, with Clearlake Capital set to take full control of the club after agreeing to acquire the ownership interests of Todd Boehly and Mark Walter.
Chelsea announced on Wednesday that affiliates of Clearlake Capital Group will acquire Boehly’s ownership interest, as well as Walter’s stake, giving Clearlake full control of the Premier League club.
“Chelsea Football Club today announced affiliates of Clearlake Capital Group, L.P. (‘Clearlake’) will acquire the ownership interest of Todd Boehly.
“Clearlake will also acquire Mark Walter’s ownership interest and therefore acquire full control of the Club,” the club said.
Mark Walter and Todd Boehly have agreed to sell their stakes in Chelsea to Clearlake Capital in a deal that values the club at about £5 billion.
The development marks a significant change to the ownership structure that has been in place since Chelsea’s takeover in 2022.
Chelsea also confirmed that Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss will remain an important partner and stakeholder in the club.
The announcement comes after weeks of reports that Boehly and Walter were considering selling their stakes to Clearlake.
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