No interference for Senegal, says minister

Senegal sports minister Abdoulaye Makhtar Diop says his department will not interfere with the nation’s 2012 African Cup of Nations campaign.

Diop made the announcement on Tuesday amid rumours that authorities would attempt to influence coach Amara Traore’s choice of players or manipulate the side during the tournament in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, as they have done on other occasions.

The minister said he had given instructions to all officials not directly connected with the Senegal side to stay at a different hotel than the one the team will use in Bata, Equatorial Guinea.

“We don’t want intrusion of any kind this time,” Diop said in a statement. “We want the coach and his players to enjoy perfect calmness and concentration during the tournament. Nobody would be allowed to step in there to give instructions of any kind to the technical staff.”

He also called on the side to keep good discipline in camp to avoid disorderliness that ‘led to Senegal’s repetitive failures in the past’.

Senegal are regarded as one of the favourites of the 2012 title, alongside the Ivory Coast, Morocco and Ghana.

They are carrying out preparations at home in Dakar and will play pre-tournament friendlies against Sudan on Thursday and Kenya on Saturday.

Senegal are in Group A alongside co-hosts Equatorial Guinea, Zambia and Libya. They begin their campaign against Zambia on the tournament’s opening day, on January 21.