Tunisia coach stays on despite missing World Cup target

TUNIS : Tunisia coach Jalel Kadri has had his contract extended for 12 more months until after next year’s Africa Cup of Nations finals despite offering to resign following the World Cup in Qatar, the Tunisia Football Federation said.

Kadri met with the federation’s top officials over the weekend to assess the participation of the Tunisian team at the World Cup, where they drew with Denmark and lost to Australia before pulling off a shock win over France but still exiting after the first round.

The 51-year-old coach offered his resignation after failing to achieve his target of taking the team past the group stage. But the federation said it refused and instead extended the tenure of Kadri and his staff for an additional 12 months to include next January’s Cup of Nations finals in the Ivory Coast.

Kadri took over as Tunisia coach in February last year. His next task will be in March when Tunisia meet neighbours Libya in the qualifiers for the Cup of Nations finals.

(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)