Keith Hackett has expressed concern over Senegal’s decision to rush Sadio Mane back to action for their AFCON quarter-final meeting with Equatorial Guinea.
The Liverpool No.10 played an integral part in the tie’s opening stages, producing the assist for Famara Diedhiou’s opener in a 3-1 win for Aliou Cisse’s men.
“It seems to me the IFAB, the lawmakers, are still trying to develop a concussion criteria that applies around the world. We’re in an experimental process,” the ex-PGMOL chief told Football Insider.
“But my knowledge of that it usually takes 14 days before you can come back, before that they should be calm and not do too much physical exercise.
“It has to be an area of concern. I have no doubt that the Liverpool medical team, who are top drawer, will be asking questions about their player.
“For me, I think it was too soon to come back and play.”
The result sees the Lions of Teranga through to a semi-final clash with Burkina Faso, setting up a potentially exciting fixture in the final with Egypt should both sides overcome their respective opposition.
Given that the 29-year-old had suffered concussion only five days before in Senegal’s Round of 16 win over Cape Verde following a clash of heads, it seems rather remarkable that the attacker was deemed fit for action so soon.
General guidelines, as Hackett has rightly pointed out, permit a return after a rest period of roughly two weeks, which would suggest that the handling of Mane’s return was grossly negligent if a diagnosis of concussion was made.
Whilst we wish our Senegalese speedster the best of luck for the remainder of the competition, the reaction to the incident in question does raise serious questions about the handling of concussions in the sport.
#Ep31 of The Red Nets Podcast: The poor handling of Mane, what the hell are NFTs?… and more!