February 09, (THEWILL) – The Burkina Faso football federation announced on Friday, that they have decided not to renew national team coach Hubert Velud’s contract, following the country’s disappointing exit from the Africa Cup of Nations in the first knockout round.
The Stallions were eliminated by regional rivals, Mali, despite finishing second in their group behind Angola and ahead of top seeds and defending champions, Algeria. The 64-year-old Frenchman was making his long-awaited debut as Burkina Faso’s coach at AFCON, having previously worked with Togo and Sudan.
Velud has prior experience with turbulence at the continental tournament – he was shot in the arm during an attack on Togo’s team bus by separatists ahead of the 2010 edition. He joins several other managers, who have left their posts in the wake of Nations Cup disappointment this year.
Algeria boss, Djamel Belmadi, Egypt’s Rui Vitoria, Gambia’s Tom Saintfiet, Ghana’s Chris Hughton, Guinea-Bissau’s Baciro Cande, Ivory Coast’s Jean-Louis Gasset, Tanzania’s Adel Amrouche and Tunisia’s Jalel Kadri, have all departed their national teams since their teams unceremoniously bowed out of AFCON.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.