Senegal sanctioned by FIFA for fan incidents during Egypt World Cup play-off
African Cup of Nations winners Senegal have been fined and ordered to play a game behind closed doors for fan disorder during their World Cup play-off against Egypt, FIFA has announced.
The world governing body has imposed a one-match ban on spectators and a fine of 175,000 Swiss Francs – around £143,000 – on the Senegalese Football Federation after Egypt players including Liverpool striker Mohamed Salah were targeted with lasers during the decisive penalty shoot-out in Dakar in March.
FIFA launched a probe into alleged breaches of order and security after the second leg of the play-off, which the home side had won 1-0 through Hamdi Fathi’s own goal to level the aggregate scores and take it to a shoot-out.
Footage from the game showed green lights visible on the faces of Egypt players as they stepped up to take their penalties.
Salah, Mostafa Mohamed and Ahmed Sayed all missed from 12 yards before the Reds striker’s club-mate Sadio Mane converted his attempt to win the shoot-out 3-1 and book Senegal’s place in Qatar.
The Egypt Football Association posted pictures of the affected players on its Instagram page accompanied by the caption, “It happens to the best”, and also images apparently showing damage to the team’s bus.
Senegal’s victory mirrored their earlier success over the same opposition in the Africa Cup of Nations final in February, in which Mane also scored the decisive penalty in a shoot-out following a 0-0 draw.
