Ivory Coast appoints Gasset as new manager of national football team

On Friday, French manager, Jean-Louis Gasset, was chosen as the new coach of the Ivory Coast, which will host the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in June.

The 68-year-old has signed a 12-month deal with the option of a second year, according to the Ivorian Football Federation.

Gasset was a coach at Montpellier, Caen, Istres, St Etienne, and Girondins Bordeaux in the French league. He was also an assistant to Laurent Blanc, when the latter was manager of France from 2010 to 2012. Emerse Fae, a former Nice and Reading midfielder, has been hired as his assistant.

Patrice Beaumelle’s contract was not renewed after the Ivorians failed to qualify for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup and were eliminated in the last 16 of the TotalEnergies 2021 AFCON finals in Cameroon in January.

Gasset’s first game in charge will be against Zambia at Yamoussoukro on June 3 and, four days later, a trip to Johannesburg to face Lesotho.