Fusiller le fusible pour épargner le système
A week after the Lions' elimination in the round of 32 of the World Cup against Belgium (2-3) — following a nail-biting match — one man has become the focus of unanimous resentment: Pape Thiaw. From newspaper front pages to the stands, and including the local street musicians and tama players, everyone is calling for the coach's head.
Faced with such rejection and his complicated relationship with the national team, the former Saint-Étienne player's position has become untenable: he must leave. Beyond public opinion, Thiaw is paying the price for his own mistakes. His player selections at the start of the competition—notably starting a completely out-of-form Kalidou Koulibaly—and his glaring lack of tactical acumen at this level of competition have definitively ruined his reputation.
However, reducing the Lions' debacle to the coach's sole responsibility is as unfair as it is misleading. Pape Thiaw is the perfect scapegoat: an easy target to be pilloried to avoid analyzing the underlying problems. In Senegal, the national team coach is structurally at fault. Aliou Cissé learned this the hard way: the coach is solely responsible for defeats, regardless of the opponent's caliber or the individual shortcomings of the players on the pitch.
In my opinion, the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) bears at least 85% of the responsibility for this failure. The successive revelations by Sports News Africa paint a picture of a federation teetering between utter amateurism and sheer indecency, enough to make us weep with shame. Abdoulaye Fall, Abdoulaye Saydou Sow, and their cronies never put the coach and players in the necessary position to succeed in this American campaign.
By depriving Pape Thiaw of his contract and salary, they created a toxic atmosphere within the Lions' Den from the outset and weakened his authority over the team. What about the revelations about the colossal circus at the Lions' hotel, the inability to provide adequate food for the athletes, or the direct altercations between federation officials and players? The height of absurdity was reached upon their return, with the federation proving incapable of organizing the delegation's repatriation in any semblance of decent conditions.
This prevailing chaos is simply incompatible with the demands of elite sport. And yet, very few voices are raised in the sports press or among consultants to criticize Abdoulaye Fall and his staff. Pape Thiaw is the favorite punching bag, the convenient scapegoat.
FIFA regulations prevent the state from dissolving this federation under penalty of international suspension. Fine. But the federation deserves, at the very least, to be summoned before a parliamentary inquiry to explain its negligence. It's time to lance the boil and ensure that such failings are never repeated.
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