Senegal FA reject government mediation in El Hadji Diouf hearing

El-Hadji Diouf (Getty Images)

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The Senegal Football Federation (FSF) have spurned calls from authorities to suspend the hearing of former international El Hadji Diouf due to appear before the body’s disciplinary committee on July 20 following his recent media outburst against officials of the FA.

The Head of State’s spokesperson Serigne Mbacke Ndiaye last week met with Diouf and urged him to desist from further signs of his contemptuous attitude towards the FSF officials, according to Senegal Press Agency, APS.

Ndiaye later sent a letter to the football body requesting a suspension of Diouf’s hearing, assuring that the presidency was handling the matter to reconcile both sides.

The FA’s response was immediate, reiterating the independence of the body and its intolerance of government meddling, in a statement released on Monday in Dakar and published by Dakarfoot.com.

“The FSF will not tolerate any interference, external and internal, in the procedure the disciplinary committee has begun in strict compliance with the regulations of the body,” the statement read.

“We will not accept offers of mediation from some goodwill people and even a request of the presidency of the republic to suspend the hearing of Mr Diouf, scheduled for Wednesday, July 20, 2011.”

The 30-year-old former Liverpool winger had accused officials of the Senegal Football Federation of taking part in “monkey business” in an interview with French radio RFI.