Waleed Sadi, President of the Algerian Football Federation, has dispelled rumors of nearing the appointment of a new coach for the Algerian national team.
Algerian and French reports had suggested that the Algerian Football Federation was close to appointing Bosnian Vladimir Petković as the new head coach of the Desert Foxes.
Sadi stated in remarks to Algerian television, “We have not reached an agreement with any coach, the speculation about reaching an agreement with a new coach is not true.”
He further added, “The announcement of the new coach will likely be made within about a week.”
Reports indicated that an agreement had been reached with Petković, aged 60, to succeed Djamel Belmadi.
Two days ago, Algeria’s official radio revealed that Waleed Sadi, President of the Algerian Football Federation, had traveled to Switzerland to negotiate with the coach, who holds Bosnian and Swiss citizenship.
The report outlined two conditions for the Algerian Football Federation in the coach’s contract: first, qualification for the 2026 World Cup, and second, reaching the quarter-finals of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Vladimir Petković has been away from coaching for two years, since February 2022 when his tenure with the French club Bordeaux ended.
It’s worth noting that Petković coached the Swiss national team from 2014 to 2021.
On Tuesday, Radio Monte Carlo reported that Petković is the leading candidate to coach the Algerian national team.
The report suggested that the Algerian Football Federation may announce its contract with the Bosnian coach in a few days.
Djamel Belmadi parted ways with the Algerian national team after the Desert Foxes bid farewell to the Africa Cup of Nations 2023 in the group stage for the second consecutive time after the 2021 edition.
Belmadi took over the helm of the Algerian team in August 2018 and led the Desert Warriors to win the Africa Cup of Nations 2019 for the second time in their history.
However, Belmadi failed to lead Algeria to qualify for the 2022 World Cup after losing to Cameroon in the final stage of African qualifiers.
Overall, Belmadi coached the Algerian national team in 67 matches, winning 43 games, drawing 17 times, and losing seven matches. Algeria scored 142 goals under Belmadi and conceded 53.
