Super Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi is not among the five candidates shortlisted for the post of head coach of the Ivorian national team by the Ivorian Football Federation (FIF).
The shortlisted candidates are Patrice Neveu, Paolo Duarte, Michel Dussuyer, Henry Kasperczak and Frédéric Antonetti.
FIF said a further shortlist of three candidates will soon be released before the final selection.
Hervé Renard resigned as coach of the Elephants after leading Côte d’Ivoire to its second continental title in February. He is now with French league club Lille.
Officials say the main criteria would be experience of African football and fluency in French, to be able to communicate easily with not only the team’s foreign-based players but also the home-based.
Henry Kasperczak, who coached the Elephants between 1993 and 1994, made the five-man list. The 68-year-old Polish manager has also worked with the national teams of Tunisia, Mali and Senegal.
Former Guinea, DR Congo and Mauritania coach Patrice Neveu as well as Michel Dussuyer, who led the Syli National of Guinea to the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, are among the top five.
Portuguese manager Paulo Duarte, who formerly handled Burkina Faso and Gabon, is also vying for the Ivory Coast job, while former French clubs Rennes and Nice coach Frederic Antonetti is the only candidate who has not previously worked in Africa.
The African champions are currently without a head coach ahead of the second match day of the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.