Gambia appoints Mancini as coach

Gambia Football Association (GFA) has appointed Italian Luciano Mancini as head coach less than a week to the team’s 2014 World Cup qualifying clash against Morocco in Banjul.



The 56-year-old was employed in April to assist the former coach of the Scorpions Belgian Paul Put, who was fired last November.



“This is a collective decision by the parties concerned. Mancini will now take over as head coach,” said Omar Sey, a spokesman for the GFA.



Before his appointment, Mancini was the manager Umbria regional team in Italy.



The terms of his contract were not revealed but his main objectives will be qualifying Gambia to their first Africa Cup of Nations finals probably at the South Africa 2013.



However, Mancini will have his baptism of fire on Saturday during his side’s World Cup qualifier against the Lions of Atlas.