The International Football Association (FIFA) is investigating the events that accompanied the confrontation between Senegal and Egypt in the second leg of the final round of qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The Senegalese football team booked the second seat of the African continent in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, after beating its Egyptian counterpart 3-1 on penalties on Tuesday.
The Egyptian Football Association submitted an official complaint against its Senegalese counterpart to the match observer, security official, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and FIFA, before the start of the two teams’ match in the second leg of the World Cup qualifying round.
The Federation explained that "the Egyptian team was subjected to racism after offensive banners appeared in the stands of the match stadium for the players, specifically Mohamed Salah, the captain of the team, and the fans terrorized the players by throwing bottles and stones at them while they were warming up, in addition to the attack on the Egyptian mission buses, which caused their windows to be smashed and exposed Some of them had injuries and injuries, which was documented with pictures and videos that were attached to the complaint.”
FIFA pledged to review the match reports, and to decide later on the next step.
He added that "the competent disciplinary bodies evaluate the relevant information contained in the match reports before deciding on the next steps to be taken."
The attack on Mohamed Salah after Egypt's defeat against Senegal in Dakar and the heavy use of lasers by the fans of the host team caused an uproar on the communication platforms, and some went to demand a replay of the match, similar to what happened in the famous "brick" match between Egypt and Zimbabwe.
Mohamed Salah misses from the spot as Senegal beat Egypt in a penalty shootout to qualify for the World Cup
Just look at the lasers 😲pic.twitter.com/Q2n6M3LCPW
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) March 29, 2022
Senegal fans deliberately shined green laser beams from the stadium stands at the faces of the Egyptian captain, Mohamed Salah and his companions throughout the match and during the penalty shootout, which some and even international newspapers asserted had a negative impact on Egyptian players who missed penalty kicks, namely Salah and Zizou.
Senegalese fans throw water bottles at Mohamed Salah and he goes out to protect security pic.twitter.com/gVINqbS2fk
— Kora Plus (@KoraPlusEG) March 29, 2022
Videos and photos also showed Salah leaving the stadium under security protection after throwing bottles and stones at him after the match ended.