Senegal league to restart

League football will finally return to Senegal later this month, according to the Normalisation Committee running the game.

The west African nation has been without a championship since September after the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) collapsed earlier this year.

The league's scheduled return on the weekend of 24-25 May marks the end of an eight-month absence and one of the worst crises in the Senegalese game.

After 29 of the 40 FSF members resigned following the national team's disastrous showing at January's Africa Cup of Nations, domestic football plunged into chaos.

But the country's future is far brighter after a Fifa-approved Normalisation Committee finally took shape on Tuesday.

"League football will be played on the weekend of 24-25 May," said Saer Seck, the vice-president of the committee.

"We are at the end of the process and will be playing within 10 days"
Saer Seck, stand-in president of Senegal football

And Seck, who instigated the creation of Senegal's famous Diambars football academy, dismissed fears that players would not be prepared given the short notice.

"I think the clubs have been ready for a long time," he told BBC Sport.

"They've had to rely on mere training matches recently, which has been very hard for them.

"But now we are at the end of the process and we will be playing our national league within 10 days."

The 20-team championship will include Jeanne d'Arc and Diaraf, Senegal's most successful clubs who contested a break-away league last year after questioning the FSF's competence.

After several delays, the make-up of the 15-man Normalisation Committee was announced on Tuesday under the leadership of Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye.

On Thursday, the committee president, who has one year to set up fresh FSF elections, promised that his reign would incorporate transparency and a clear audit of football¿s finances.

Last month, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade bemoaned the fact that previous FSF officials were more interested in money than in football.

The leader of the new body has promised openness and financial accountability.

Fresh elections must be held within a year.

Because of the late start, the league's 20 teams will be divided into two groups of 10 - so making for a shorter tournament.

After playing each other on a home-and-away basis, the two group winners will meet to determine the championship later this year.

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