World Cup scandal... Senegal team doctor a gynecologist and obstetrician

The statement by the president of the Senegalese Football Federation, Abdoulaye Fall, on Monday, July 13, 2026, regarding the ineligibility of team doctor Abdourahmane Fedior to follow the national team after it was revealed that his specialty is gynecology and not sports medicine, raised concerns in sports circles and among players about the level of medical support available for the past ten years, dating back to when the doctor joined the Senegal team in 2017, at a time when the federation's performance has been disappointing this year in the ongoing World Cup.

Senegalese Federation President Abdoulaye Fall said in a press conference that team doctor Abdourahmane Fedior "trained to become a gynecologist and obstetrician," noting that this issue was discovered late and raised concerns and doubts among players about the level of medical support available.

Fall added, "Based on the reports I received, the players were not sufficiently reassured about receiving care from him." He continued that the federation sought to bring in additional medical expertise to reassure the team.

Fall continued, "We had to find convincing expertise so that they felt reassured, because health comes first."

For its part, the Senegalese Society of Sports Medicine, in a statement released late Monday, rejected these allegations and described them as "baseless and defamatory."

The society stated that the national team doctor, Abdourahmane Fedior, holds a specialized diploma in sports medicine and sports biology from the Faculty of Medicine of Cheikh Anta Diop University.

It added that Fedior previously headed the physiotherapy department at Fann Hospital and has been a doctor for the Senegal national team since 2017, accompanying the team in three World Cups and five Africa Cup of Nations tournaments.

After Senegal had hoped to compete strongly in the World Cup, following its run to the Africa Cup of Nations final in January 2026, it delivered a disappointing performance after losing its first two group stage matches to France and Norway, and squandered a 2-0 lead with five minutes left in its round of 32 match against Belgium, before losing 2-3 after extra time.

Senegal sacked coach Pape Thiaw on Saturday, stating that its World Cup results necessitated the change.