Senegal coach fired

Senegal’s coach Joseph Koto has been sacked in the wake of the national team’s failure to reach the 2013 African Nations Cup finals, the Senegalese football federation said. The decision comes after a meeting on Tuesday that found Koto fell short of achieving the federation’s objectives. “Koto has been removed because targets were not achieved,” the federation said in a statement. Koto has been acting coach since Amara Traore was dismissed in February after a failing 2012 African Nations Cup finals for Senegal that saw them exit from the first round. The Teranga Lions’ final qualifying game against the visiting Ivory Coast was marred by crowd violence and the game was cancelled 14 minutes from full-time, with Ivorians leading 2-0 thanks to Didier Drogba’s double. The team’s technical director Mayacine Mar will now serve as interim coach until a permanent replacement is appointed.