Cissé was nearing 10 years in charge of the Teranga Lions that included reaching two AFCON finals - winning the title in 2022,  and the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup. Senegal went to that tournament in Qatar without star forward Sadio Mané, who was injured.

The Senegalese soccer body published a letter Wednesday thanking Cissé for his work and his brilliant results.

The former Paris Saint-Germain defender had been due to hold a news conference on Friday to announce his squad for upcoming qualifying games for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

The letter also listed reasons from the government sports ministry not to renew Cissé's contract for one year: Not reaching recent tournament objectives, the team's falling FIFA ranking, and the risk of worsening relations between the team and the Senegalese public.

It was unclear if the ministry's request conflicted with FIFA rules prohibiting government interference in the independent management of its member federations.

--Reuters--