Senegal’s Football Federation (FSF) vice president Abdoulaye Sow says the Teranga Lions’ failure to reach the World Cup knockout stage does not warrant coach Aliou Cisse’s sacking. The West Africans narrowly missed out because of Fifa’s new fair play ruling. After beating Poland 2-1 in their Group H opening match, Senegal were held 2-2 by Japan, before falling 1-0 to Colombia in their final game. Aliou Cissé is a Senegalese football coach and former player. Having begun his career in France, he later played for English clubs Birmingham City and Portsmouth. Cissé was a defensive midfielder who also, on occasion, played at centre back.
A similar number of points, goal difference, goals scored and head-to-head could not separate Senegal and Japan, leaving the two teams’ disciplinary record to be used to determine the group’s second position. Cisse’s side were then condemned to third-place by having earned six yellow cards compared to Japan’s four. While also lashing out at some sections of Senegal fans calling for Cisse’s head, Sow said the fair play ruling cannot be used to conclude that the team failed in Russia. “There are Senegalese who wanted Senegal to fail at the World Cup. They wanted, for example, huge defeats, humiliation (for the team). But fortunately their wishes were not granted,” Sow said.