Although Sadio Mane is set to play for Senegal today against Equatorial Guinea, it’s reported that Liverpool’s representatives have spoken to their forward in an attempt to stop the 29-year-old from taking part in the match.
Our No. 10 appeared to lose consciousness during a hefty collision with Cape Verde ‘keeper Vozinha in the previous round and was taken to hospital after the game.
Luke Griggs, who is the chief executive of brain injury charity Headway, has claimed that football needs to ‘enforce and strengthen its protocols’ to ‘be taken seriously’.
“On the face of it, this seems to be yet another example of football putting results ahead of player safety,” Griggs said (via Football365).
“This was a sickening collision that clearly left both players in enough distress for a concussion to have surely been considered a possibility at the very least.
“At that point, the principle of ‘if in doubt, sit it out!’ should have resulted in Mane being substituted without another ball being kicked.
“This is now a real test of leadership for The Confederation of African Football and world governing body Fifa – particularly if Senegal declare Mane fit for Sunday’s quarter-final.
“If football wants to be taken seriously when it comes to concussion, it simply must take action to enforce and strengthen its protocols.”
Abdourahmane Fdior is the Senegal team doctor and has cleared Mane to play via an official statement.
“All the symptoms he had on the pitch are gone. His condition requires fairly close monitoring. Everything is normal on the X-ray.”
It is rather surprising to see that our No. 10 is set to play – he may be a talisman for his nation but health must come first, always.
If he does play, hopefully, he’s okay and can help his side through to the semi-final.
Mo Salah is also in action today as Egypt face Morocco.