"My answer must be a bit diplomatic", warns the Belgian technician in a pre-match press conference on Sunday, specifying from the start that he "likes being here", for the very first participation of the "Scorpions" in the Africa Cup.
But he paints a bleak picture of his team's reception conditions in a hotel in the Bafoussam region.
"Six players sleep in the same room, with the same bathroom, the same shower", and "only two, three staff members have a + single + room, the others sleep two in the same bed, at the time of the Covid", describes Saintfiet.
"The hotel and the infrastructure where we are, I worked 14 years in Africa, I have never seen" that, insists the Belgian.
His team "have to travel two and a half hours to get to the stadium, as we have to be there an hour and a half before that makes us leave four hours before the match. But science says that you have to eat three and a half hours before the match, we can't eat when we want?"
he asks.
“We are professionals,” continues Saintfiet.
"We are a small country like Malawi or Zimbabwe, but we have to be respected. We are here to write history. I have great players (who play) in Europe, they are not respected by the organization , and that's a shame."
In Bafoussam, Gambia plays Monday against Guinea, and Senegal faces Cape Verde on Tuesday.
"When you organize a tournament with four teams in a stadium, and you pay, you pay for the hotels, each team needs the same level (of service), it's respect for each team", asks the coach.
"Because when you create differences between teams, when big teams have better hotels, nice infrastructure, near the stadium, and small countries have bad hotels, you create favoritism," insists Saintfiet.
"If The Gambia are African champions or Cameroon, it must be decided on the pitch, not at the hotel," he insists.
© 2022 AFP