Vieira named Senegal coach amid contractual and federation uncertainties
Patrick Vieira was announced as the new coach of Senegal on Monday, but the former France captain has not signed a contract and the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) said discussions over the "administrative and contractual arrangements" were ongoing, leaving open the possibility he may not take charge.
The FSF said Vieira was unanimously approved at a meeting on Monday, with former Netherlands forward Patrick Kluivert among other names considered for the job, but the federation is beset by off-field disputes and uncertainty over the termination of Pape Thiaw's contract. Thiaw was sacked after Senegal's last-32 exit to Belgium at the World Cup without formal endorsement from the government and is seeking payment of several months' outstanding wages and bonuses amounting to almost $815,000 (£600,000).
A ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) is expected by Friday in a contest over the election of the current FSF leadership, and the federation, described in the FSF statement as increasingly isolated and constrained, said it nevertheless felt compelled to move quickly to appoint a head coach. The federation faces immediate scheduling pressures ahead of competitive fixtures.
Vieira has personal ties to Senegal: he was born in Dakar in June 1976 to a Cape Verdean mother and a Gabonese father before moving to France, and his playing career included spells at Arsenal and Inter Milan and more than a century of France caps, with victories in the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 listed among his honours. He faced Senegal once as a player in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup, a 1-0 defeat in which Papa Bouba Diop scored against the defending champions; that Senegal side was led by Aliou Cisse and included Pape Thiaw.
Vieira invested in the Diambars Institute late in his playing career and the academy has produced players cited by the FSF as part of Senegal's recent success, including Idrissa Gana Gueye, Bamba Dieng and Abdoulaye Seck. Senegal won their first Africa Cup of Nations title in February 2022 at the delayed 2021 Afcon and secured a second title with a 1-0 extra-time victory in January's Afcon final; the ultimate destination of that trophy, the FSF statement noted, will be settled by Cas after Thiaw led his side off the pitch following a controversial stoppage-time penalty awarded to hosts Morocco.
Vieira's managerial resume outlined by the FSF and media reports includes roles at New York City FC, where he led the club into the play-offs in both of his two seasons beginning in 2016 but lost both conference semi-finals, including a 7-0 aggregate defeat by Toronto FC. He then managed Nice to seventh- and fifth-placed Ligue 1 finishes before being sacked in December 2020, and took over Crystal Palace in July 2021 where he won 22 of his 74 games in all competitions (a win percentage of 29.73), guiding them to 12th in the Premier League and the 2021-22 FA Cup semi-finals before his dismissal in March 2023 after an 11-match league winless run.
Palace then-chairman Steve Parish said the decision was taken with "enormous regret" but in order to keep the Selhurst Park side in the top flight. Vieira subsequently spent a year at Strasbourg with another mid-table Ligue 1 finish and most recently left Italian side Genoa by mutual consent last November with the team winless and bottom of Serie A.
The FSF's shortlist for the coaching role included Kluivert, Patrice Carteron and former Senegal internationals Habib Beye and Oumar Daf, and reports noted Vieira had dropped hints about being in contention during a high-profile holiday in Senegal. The contested election of FSF president Abdoulaye Fall is being challenged by defeated candidate Mady Toure, a dispute that has added to the uncertainty surrounding the appointment.
The Cas ruling in Lausanne could call into question the legitimacy of the FSF hierarchy and potentially even the choice of Vieira, and Senegal are due to resume competitive action on 23 September with a Group J opener in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers away to Mozambique, followed by a meeting with Ethiopia days later.
