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Businessman Idriss Diallo was elected president of the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) for four years on 20 April. Exclusively for The World Africahe announces why he chose Jean-Louis Gasset, 68, as coach to succeed Patrice Beaumelle. “We had to turn the page and leave with new technical staff and a new project. “, specifies the leader. He also answered questions about the 2023 African Cup of Nations (CAN), which Côte d’Ivoire will host.
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Why this choice ?
Idriss Diallo A few months ago, he said he wanted to train an African team. His profile corresponds to what we were looking for. He is experienced, he worked in several French clubs as number 1 (Montpellier, Caen, Istres, Saint-Etienne, Bordeaux), but also as assistant to Laurent Blanc when he was coach of the France team.
He showed during our discussions that he was very motivated. He signed a one-year contract, renewable for one year if we pass the CAN that we will organize, which means reaching at least the semi-finals, and ideally winning it. He will be assisted by Emerse Faé (44), a former Ivorian international.
Antoine Kombouaré, the coach of FC Nantes, was, like Jean-Louis Gasset, one of your priorities…
Yes. He is a very good coach, who won the Coupe de France with his club and who also had the right profile. There were discussions between us, he was very interesting but, unfortunately, all the conditions were not met, since he is under contract with his club until June 30, 2023 and has decided to stay in Nantes.
Côte d’Ivoire will organize the next CAN, normally in June and July 2023. But for several months, there has been talk of a change in the calendar. What about?
A few days ago, I was in Namibia, on the occasion of the Cosafa congress (an association of southern African federations). I met there Patrice Motsepe, the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), and his secretary, Véron Mosengo-Omba. They didn’t tell me at all about a possible change of dates. To date, there is no reason to assume that the competition will not take place on the dates given by CAF.
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