Burkina Faso’s 7-0 friendly defeat to Argentina has triggered a political response at the highest level, with President Ibrahim Traoré promising changes inside the country’s football federation after the senior national side was unable to make the trip.
The match was played by Burkina Faso’s Under-23 squad following organisational problems which prevented the full senior team from travelling. The young players arrived only five hours before kick-off and faced Argentina in difficult conditions, before being heavily beaten.
Traoré praised the players for accepting the assignment, saying they had gone into the match out of patriotism and deserved recognition for that attitude. But he made clear that the events surrounding the fixture were unacceptable.
Federation set for intervention
Speaking in front of Burkina Faso Football Federation president Colonel Oumarou Sawadogo, Traoré said the country’s football was “sick” and that solutions would be found. He said the authorities had previously tried not to interfere in the federation’s affairs, but believed intervention had now become unavoidable.
Traoré, who has led Burkina Faso since taking power in a 2022 coup, said the Argentina episode had underlined the need to put money back into sport and take major decisions during the coming week. The expected reforms are set to affect the federation after a humiliating night that exposed serious failures in the preparation of the national team.
