The Senegalese national team have confirmed the appointment of former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira as their new head coach.
The Federation Senegalaise de Football (FSF) have confirmed the appointment of Patrick Vieira as their new head coach, writing that the date of the former Gunner’s official presentation and onboarding will be announced at a later date.
In their statement, the FSF report that their Emergency Committee convened and unanimously ratified the appointment of Vieira on August 17th.
They add that discussions regarding the administrative and contractual terms of Vieira’s appointment are ongoing, but it seems they’re sufficiently confident that those will be resolved to announce it to the public.
Though he represented France as a player, Vieira was born in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, and he’ll now have the chance to lead the team from the nation of his birth.
Senegal had sacked their previous manager Pape Thiaw after their team’s elimination from the 2026 World Cup.
Thiaw had arguably led his side to AFCON success earlier in the year, but there’s an ongoing dispute over that victory.
CAF have ruled that Senegal forfeited the match when they left the field, but Senegal are appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. For now, Morocco are technically champions.
All the same, Vieira is taking over a strong Senegal team capable of competing for the 2027 AFCON trophy and making the latter stages of World Cup tournaments.
He’ll want to push to deliver on that potential once he officially begins work in his new role.
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