On Tuesday, 29th November, Senegal FC punched their way through the FIFA World Cup 2022 Round of 16, after 20 years, beating hopeful Ecuador, 2-1. The last time they went this far into the tournament was in the 2002 World Cup held in South Korea and Japan.
Although they have come one step closer to World Cup glory, they might have to face the wrath of FIFA after they reportedly broke a protocol. Well, their celebration has been cut short by the football governing body so what happened?
So before the match, Senegal’s coach Aliou Cisse appeared before the press, but without a player which FIFA is now investigating. According to FIFA’s rule, ‘a player and a coach needs to be present for the media before any World Cup games.’
Senegal might face FIFA sanction after their match against Ecuador.In its own word, FIFA said in a public statement,
“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 statement further reads,
“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.”
In the first match against the Netherlands, coach Cisse went to the pre-match conference with Kreppin Diatta, and also did the same for their match-up against Qatar alongside defender Kalidou Koulibaly. But it wasn’t the same for their final group stage against Ecuador, the boss went without any player.
Regardless of whether FIFA sanctions the team or not, Senegal is currently enjoying it while it lasts and preparing itself for the upcoming round of 16 match-ups against England on December 4th.
