Sacked Senegal head coach Pape Thiaw.
The Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) president revealed on Monday that a "toxic" atmosphere enveloped the national team at the FIFA World Cup, stemming from a bitter contract dispute with head coach Pape Thiaw.
Thiaw was dismissed on Sunday following the Teranga Lions' dramatic round-of-32 exit at the hands of Belgium on July 1.
"There was a complete breakdown in trust between Pape Thiaw and the federation," FSF president Abdoulaye Fall told a packed press conference in Dakar, pointing to the toxic environment created by the coach's demands for a substantial wage increase.
Thiaw, the 45-year-old former Senegal international who took the reins of the national side in 2024, had reportedly demanded his monthly salary be bumped from 20 million CFA francs (about R583,000 to 50 million CFA francs (R 1,451,227) prior to the squad's departure for the tournament.
