Senegal will face England in the Last 16 on Sunday after beating Ecuador 2-1 in their vital Group A match. But the Lions of Teranga have landed themselves in trouble ahead of their Knock-out encounter against Southgate’s side for not adhering to World Cup regulations.
Before their match against Ecuador on Tuesday, Senegal Head Coach Aliou Cisse attended his pre-match press conference without one of his players.
The FIFA rules state that the manager must be accompanied by someone from his squad in one of the two press conference rooms at the main media centre in Doha.
Cisse appeared with Monaco forward Krepin Diatta and Chelsea defender Kalidou Koulibaly prior to Senegal’s opener against the Netherlands and Qatar respectively.
But Aliou chose to speak to the media on his own earlier in the week, with FIFA stating that action will now be taken against the Senegalese Football Association.
FIFA statement on Wednesday morning
“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against the Senegalese Football Federation due to the potential breaches of article 44 of the Regulations for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, article 2.7.2 of the Media and Marketing Regulations and article 8.5.3 of the Team Handbook.
“The potential breaches relate to the mandatory press conference that took place on 28 November ahead of the Ecuador v. Senegal FIFA World Cup™ match.”
Germany was hit with an £8,800 penalty for the same offence earlier in the tournament.
But what will Senegal’s fate be?
