2026 U17 World Cup – Senegal: Reasons behind Souleymane Commissaire Faye's absence revealed

Hours after Senegal’s squad for the 2026 U17 World Cup was confirmed, Souleymane Commissaire Faye’s agent broke his silence following the controversial omission of the Senegalese talent.

Following Souleymane Commissaire Faye’s omission from Senegal’s squad for the U17 World Cup, which begins in less than 10 days in Qatar (from November 19 to December 13), Assane Cissé, the promising attacking midfielder’s agent, explained the situation in an interview with Dsports.

The Chelsea factor

The standout player in the squad was due to have a trial at Chelsea before the World Cup, despite opposition from head coach Lamine Sané. Assane Cissé revealed that the Blues had already paid expenses for the left-footer and his entourage to travel to London. The trip became more urgent after it had been postponed because of the U17 AFCON qualifiers.

“Chelsea had wanted him for a year, but we had to wait until September, when he turned 16, so he could make the trip. The club had spent more than 30 million CFA francs on the three tickets and other expenses. Lamine told me he needed Commissaire for the U17 WAFU A tournament. So we postponed the trip until after the tournament.”

After the WAFU A tournament, the U17 head coach is said to have wanted to keep the prodigy for the World Cup preparations. “There were seven weeks before the World Cup. When I spoke to Lamine Sané, he told me he needed him before the World Cup. And that he wasn’t the one who had the final say in the matter, but rather technical director Souleymane Diallo,” Cissé continued.

Deadline not met

Head coach Lamine Sané then reportedly gave Commissaire Faye a maximum of five days to return to the team camp. That deadline could not be met, although his agent cancelled a trial at Manchester United. “Given that things were already tense over the Chelsea training camp, I decided not to put the boy in a difficult position and cancelled the trial at Manchester United,” the agent explained.

Assane Cissé slams the head coach

The businessman later accused the head of the Lionceaux de la Téranga of making false claims and of being particularly arrogant towards him: “Lamine Sané then said that I had told the technical director we would be away for five days. Then he said it was the father who had said it, even though the father never said that. He keeps changing his story. Lamine was very arrogant on the phone. He asked us who we thought we were. He simply wanted to show that he was the boss.”

According to the head coach, Commissaire Faye is among the reserve players. This suggests the teenager could be called up in the event of an injury.

Read also: 2027 AFCON qualifiers – Côte d’Ivoire: Hervé Renard is determined to take all three points against Gambia

Joshua SOSSOU

Editorfr, en, ar

As a sports fan, and particularly a football fan, I've been putting my writing talent to good use for a number of years now to promote African talent and the continent's football in general. On Foot Africa, enjoy reading each of my lines.

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