Senegal's World Cup team doctor lacked sports medicine background, federation president reveals

Senegal’s team doctor at the World Cup in North America was “trained as a gynaecologist” and lacked the specialist background required to support a professional football squad, FSF president Abdoulaye Fall said on Monday — a revelation that compounded an already difficult tournament for the Lions of Teranga.

Fall said the issue was discovered late and that players were left anxious about the quality of medical care available to them. “Based on the feedback I received, the players were not sufficiently reassured about being supported by him,” he said. The federation was forced to source additional medical expertise mid-tournament to calm the squad’s concerns. “We had to find convincing expertise so they could feel reassured, because health comes before everything.”

The Senegalese Association of Sports Medicine pushed back sharply, calling the allegations “unfounded and defamatory.” In a statement issued late Monday, the association said team doctor Abderahmane Fediore holds a specialist diploma in sports medicine and sports biology from Cheikh Anta Diop University’s faculty of medicine, previously led the physiotherapy department at Fann Hospital, and has served as Senegal’s team doctor since 2017 — a tenure spanning three World Cups and five Africa Cup of Nations.

The medical controversy follows a turbulent World Cup campaign for Senegal. The team arrived in North America as credible contenders after beating Morocco in January’s Africa Cup of Nations final, but their tournament unravelled quickly. They lost their opening two group games to France and Norway before defeating Iraq, then suffered a painful last-32 exit against Belgium — surrendering a 2-0 lead with five minutes remaining and losing 3-2 in extra time.

The fallout has already cost head coach Pape Bouna Thiaw his job. The FSF confirmed on Saturday that it had initiated proceedings to terminate the 45-year-old’s contract along with his entire technical staff. “After a thorough evaluation of the sporting results and prospects of the national team, the Executive Committee deemed it necessary to initiate this procedure in the best interests of Senegalese football,” the federation said. Thiaw had been in charge since 2024.

Senegal are not alone in making managerial changes after the tournament: more than a quarter of all World Cup coaches have been fired or resigned since their nations were eliminated.