The Sudan Football Association (SFA) has fired national team coach Hubert Velud after Sudan’s poor showing at the ongoing FIFA Arab Cup 2021. Sudan lost all the three group matches, conceding 10 goals and scoring none.
The SFA executive committee meeting agreed on Sunday to terminate Velud’s contract and appoint local caretaker coach Burhan Tia to handle the team during the upcoming AFCON.
Velud’s dismissal comes just four weeks before the Falcons of Jediane start their TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, Cameroon 2021 campaign. Sudan qualified to the continent’s flagship competition for the first time since 2013, and with Ethiopia they are the only two teams from the CECAFA Zone in the impending TotalEnergies AFCON 2021.
Although Velud, who was appointed coach in January 2020, helped Sudan to qualify for the 2021 AFCON, the team has been in poor standing lately.
With three points from six matches in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers alongside Guinea, Morocco, and Guinea-Bissau Velud’s team had the least points. At the FIFA Arab Cup 2021 they lost 4-0 in the opening match to Algeria, before suffering 5-0 defeat to Egypt and a 1-0 loss to Lebanon.
Burhan Tia who takes over from him has worked in the Sudan Premier League for 26 years. He was also Sudan assistant coach during the 2018 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) where the Falcons of Jediane finished third.
Burhan will be assisted by Mohsen Sayed and Mubarak Soliman as assistant coaches. They will have a tough mission of making it to AFCON knockout stage. Sudan is placed in Group D alongside Nigeria, Egypt and Guinea-Bissau.