Sadio Mane, a striker for Senegal and Bayern Munich, will not compete in the Qatar 2022 World Cup, the Senegalese soccer federation said Thursday.
The 30-year-old Mane sustained the harm during Bayern’s Nov. 8 6-1 victory against Werder Bremen. He was taken off the field after 20 minutes due to what the club later described as a fibula bone injury in his lower right leg.
Mane was nonetheless selected for the Senegal World Cup team despite the injury, and it was anticipated that he would miss at least their opening match against the Netherlands on November 20.
The two-time African player of the year will need surgery for the injury, the club said at a press conference on Thursday, and he would not be able to compete in Qatar.
According to Senegal team physician Manuel Afonso, “the latest news has just arrived, and since the injury to Sadio Mane which happened on Nov. 8 we made contact with Bayern Munich to obtain the information.” The athlete underwent his first MRI the next day, and the club sent us the results, which revealed a right knee injury. We went to see the player and reexamine the pictures at the club’s headquarters as a result.
This is the reason I traveled on November 10th and 11th to collect all of his data. To further comprehend the progression and assess if Sadio Mane might still play in the World Cup, it was decided to get another MRI today, Nov. 17.
And regrettably, “today’s MRI has revealed that the evolution is not as favorable as we’d have hoped, and we’ve concluded — regrettably — to proclaim that Mane is forfeit for this World Cup, and typically a surgical intervention will be performed very quickly.”
After their opening match against the Netherlands, Senegal will play the hosts Qatar and then Ecuador in Group A.
