Two-time Africa Cup of Nations-winning coach Herve Renard has revealed why he withdrew his application for the Senegal national team job.
The Frenchman remains one of the most sought-after coaches in Africa, as he was linked with several jobs on the continent throughout 2024.
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At the beginning of this year, at the 2023 AFCON, tournament hosts Ivory Coast were reported to have made an attempt to hire Renard on loan from his then-position as the head coach of the France women's national team.
This was after Cote d'Ivoire sacked Jean-Louis Gasset during the group stage of the tournament. Their efforts to sign Renard proved unsuccessful and they eventually put their assistant coach at the time, Emerse Fae, in charge.
In early October, Renard would reveal that Nigeria also came calling but that he refused the job as he felt it was not the right fit.
The 56-year-old has since returned as the head coach of Saudi Arabia, putting an end to all speculation concerning his future.
Speaking in a recent interview, the 2012 and 2015 AFCON winner with Zambia and Ivory Coast revealed that he was also in the running for the vacant Senegal job after Aliou Cisse's departure.
According to Afrik-Foot, Renard explained: "There were discussions. I had a wish, to have Omar Daf, a former Senegalese international, as an assistant.
"But Omar is the coach of Amiens SC, in Ligue 2 and this condition was not possible to fulfill immediately. So I decided at that precise moment to withdraw my candidacy.
"For the moment, Senegal has not yet chosen. Coaching Senegal, one of the best African teams, would have been a great challenge, it's true, but all the conditions were not right."
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Senegal are currently led by interim coach and Cisse's former assistant Pape Thiaw.
The Lions of Teranga have already secured qualification for the 2025 AFCON in Morocco after back-to-back wins over Malawi in the last international break.
By Lukhanyo Mtuta
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