Sudan fires coach ahead of Nations Cup finals

Sudan fired coach Hubert Velud less than a month before they play at the Africa Cup of Nations following a poor run at the Arab Cup in Qatar.

The 62-year-old Frenchman was dismissed after a meeting of the Sudan Football Association’s executive committee on Sunday, the organisation confirmed on Monday.

He will be replaced by Borhan Tia, who has served as a club coach in Sudan’s premier league over the last decade.

Sudan lost all three matches at this month’s Arab Cup, conceding 10 goals without scoring despite using a full national team squad that is expected to show little change for next month’s Cup of Nations finals.

Sudan compete in Group D at the tournament in Cameroon, opening their campaign against Guinea Bissau in Garoua on January 11 and then meeting Nigeria and Egypt.

Egypt beat them 5-0 in the Arab Cup on Doha on December 4.

Velud had helped Sudan eliminate South Africa in their Cup of Nations qualifying group in March for a place in the finals for the first time since 2012.

The Frenchman was coach of Togo when they went to the 2010 Cup of Nations finals in Angola and their bus attacked by separatists. The shooting spree killed two members of the Togo delegation. Velud was shot in the arm.

He is the fourth coach to lose his job since qualifying a team to the Cup of Nations finals. Guinea and Mauritania dismissed their coaches in the last three months while Nigeria parted ways with Gernot Rohr on Sunday.