Football - Mali: Tom Saintfiet on his way out

In anticipation, Malian football is waiting for the date of the extraordinary general assembly of the federation to elect a new executive board following the mass resignations from the administration managed by Mamoutou ‘Bavieux’ Touré. If several factions are already trying to advance themselves behind the scenes, also using political levers, the question of the coach also remains unresolved.

Salary arrears of the coach
Hired in August 2024 for two years, Tom Saintfiet experienced as his predecessors problems regarding the payment of his salary. "I have never been paid normally," he lamented last month.

According to information from Sport News Africa, FEMAFOOT and the Ministry of Sports have not yet fully settled the salary arrears of former breeders Eric Chelle and Mohamed Magassouba, as well as the emoluments of several coaches for young and women’s teams.

A worrying financial situation that necessarily limits the manoeuvre concerning a next coach since Saintfiet, whose contract expires in August, will not be kept no matter what happens.

The letter of January 13
After the elimination in the quarter-finals of the African Cup of Nations against Senegal, the national director of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Boubou Diallo, wrote an official letter to FEMAFOOT on 13 January asking for the dismissal of the Belgian coach:

«The coach was unable to achieve the assigned objectives [...]
1 – the qualification of the National team 'seniors' to the final phase of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations;
2 – reach at least the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations;
3 – the qualification of the National team 'seniors' to the final phase of the next World Cup;
4 – reach at least the 1/16th of the finals of the next World Cup
It is clear that he was only able to achieve one goal out of 4. In light of what is being done, I would be grateful if you could arrange for the immediate termination of the contract.
A clear interference to which several leaders of FEMAFOOT understood the hidden interest: the national director pushing to place Djibril Dramé, the former coach of the Malian Stadium and of young Malian teams.


If the future of Saintfiet is far from Bamako, no one knows yet when it will leave given the uncertainties weighing on the general future of FEMAFOOT because of the future extraordinary general meeting.

Not forgetting the financial context, another candidate would work to recover the position, former international and current U23 coach Fousseni Diawara. If the person concerned defends himself and refutes the allegations lending him covetousness for the position, several sources indicate that his position with the Minister of Sports and several former players would plead in his favor.

An eminently political game in a football that sees the State getting increasingly involved to put back order in a federation where Vice-President Sylvain Diakité had taken a prominent place following the legal concerns of President Bavieux.

This is enough to augur decisive weeks for the executive committee, the coach and even those responsible for financial issues since the Ministry of Sports has been conducting a comprehensive analysis of the situation and possible misdeeds by some officials for some time.