On Wednesday 28 August 2024, the Malian Football Federation (FEMAFOOT) announced the appointment of Tom Saintfiet as the coach of the Eagles of Mali.
The decision comes just a few days before the start of the qualifiers for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) against Mozambique.
Mali will face the Mambas of Mozambique on Friday 6 September 2024 at the Stade du 26 Mars in Bamako.
Saintfiet’s choice comes after a tumultuous period for Malian football. On Thursday 13 June 2024, Eric
Sekou Chelle was dismissed as coach following a series of poor performances, including the quarter-final elimination by hosts Côte d’Ivoire at the 2023 CAF Africa Cup of Nations.
To manage the transition, Alou Badra known as ‘Conti’, then coach of the U23s, was appointed as interim coach.
Saintfiet’s appointment came at the backdrop of a crisis in Mali’s national football squad. Captain Hamari Traore was suspended by FEMAFOOT a few days after Chelle’s dismissal, after refusing to answer a summons. Traore justified his absence by claiming that the decision to summon players had to be collective, which led to a wave of
discontent within the team, with several players deciding to temporarily withdraw in support of their captain.
FEMAFOOT itself is going through a difficult period, marked by the imprisonment of its president, Mamoutou Toure, nicknamed ‘Bavieux’.
Arrested on 5 July 2024 on charges of financial embezzlement linked to his mandate as a member of the National Assembly, Toure left behind a federation beset by management difficulties. This context adds to the
challenges Saintfiet will have to face as he attempts to stabilise a team in disarray.
Tom Saintfiet, born on 29 March 1973 in Mol, Belgium, has extensive experience at the helm of several national teams, including Namibia, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Togo and most recently Gambia.
He is best known for leading Gambia to their first-ever qualification for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations finals in 2021, where his team reached the quarter-finals.
However, the task awaiting him in Mali is on a different scale. Since 2000, Mali have seen almost twenty coaches come and go without ever winning a major trophy, despite their rise to prominence on the African continent. The team’s last major achievement came in 1972, when they reached the final of the CAF Africa Cup of Nations.
Expectations are certainly high for Saintfiet, who will have virtually no grace period. The match against Mozambique will be the first decisive test, as a poor performance could prematurely jeopardise his
future.
Aspiring to regain their place on the international stage after the failure of the African Cup of Nations (AfCON 2023), Malian football cannot afford any mistakes in this new campaign.
MD/Sf/ac/fss/as/AP