Saudi Federation Ends Coach Herve Renard's Tenure, AFP Reports

Agence France-Presse has reported that the Saudi football federation has decided to end the tenure of French coach Herve Renard at the helm of the Saudi national team's technical staff, a move that comes as part of a drive to restructure the coaching setup in preparation for the World Cup finals.

Renard is among the most prominent coaches to have led "the Green Falcons" in recent years, guiding them throughout their World Cup qualifying campaign and taking part with the side in the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar, achieving notable results, foremost among them qualification for the World Cup.

In his first reaction after news of his dismissal broke, Renard told Agence France-Presse: "That's football… Saudi Arabia have qualified seven times for the World Cup, twice of them with me. And the only coach to have gone through both the qualifiers and the World Cup is me, back in 2022. At least that pride will remain."

The Saudi football federation has not yet issued a detailed statement explaining the background to the decision or the identity of the coach expected to succeed him, at a time when all eyes are turning to the next stage of the national team's project.