Senegal had a dismal run at the FIFA World Cup and exited early despite high hopes for a better result. Now the recriminations are starting with reports Monday alleging the team doctor had no background in sports medicine but rather was a gynecology specialist.
Reuters reports the president of the African nation’s football federation delivered the news as the governing body took stock of a disappointing campaign.
The team doctor was “trained as a gynaecologist” and the issue was discovered late and had raised concern among players about the level of medical support available, federation chief Abdoulaye Fall told a press conference.
“Based on the feedback I received, the players were not sufficiently reassured about being supported by him,” Fall said. The federation sought additional medical expertise to reassure the squad, he added.
“We had to find convincing expertise so they could feel reassured, because health comes before everything,” said Fall, per the Reuters report.
His comments implied confidence in the team’s medical support had become an issue inside the squad during the FIFA World Cup.
The Senegalese Association of Sports Medicine was having nothing of it.
It rejected the allegations as “unfounded and defamatory” in a statement issued late on Monday.
It said the team doctor, Abderahmane Fediore, holds a specialist diploma in sports medicine and sports biology from Cheikh Anta Diop University’s faculty of medicine.
Despite entering the tournament with high expectations after completing their FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign unbeaten and winning the Africa Cup of Nations by defeating Morocco in the final, Senegal struggled in the group stage.
Senegal lost their opening two matches against France and Norway before defeating Iraq 5-0 to squeak into the knockout round as a third-place team, but fell to Belgium in the Round of 32.