Burkina Faso Football Federation on Friday announced the appointment of Frenchman Hubert Velud to lead the national team as the new head coach with immediate effect.
The former Togo national team coach takes over from Kamou Malo who was dismissed after his exploits at 2021 Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon two months ago where the Stallions finished fourth.
Velud was the choice of the Burkina Faso Football Federation out of the initial 64 candidates that applied for the job before it was pruned down to six for the final interview.
The 62-year-old has been tasked to guide Stallions to the Africa Cup of Nations, Cote d’Ivoire 2023, with the qualifications set to begin in late May.
Velud has vast experience on the African continent having handled the national teams of Togo and Sudan, qualifying them to the 2010 and 2021 editions of the AFCON respectively.
He was voted best coach in Algeria for the two consecutive seasons after winning the Algeria Ligue 1 championship with ES Setif in the 2012/2013 season and with USM Alger in the 2013/2014 campaign.
The French tactician was in charge of DR Congo giants TP Mazembe when they won the 2016 CAF Confederation Cup. He also won the CAF Super Cup together with the Congolese Ligue 1 title and Congo Super Cup in the same year.
Velud has also coached African teams like JS Kabylie, Hassania Agadir, Etoile du Sahel and Difaa El Jadida.
He was sacked by the Sudanese Football Association in December 2021, few weeks to the AFCON tournament in Cameroon following a poor showing in the FIFA Arab Cup having lost all group games without scoring a goal.
