FIFA has formally penalized the defending African champion, Senegal, for violating the regulations of the 2022 World Cup prior to this week’s match against Ecuador.
Senegal is getting ready to play England for the first time ever on Sunday night in a round-of-16 showdown.
The odds are stacked against Aliou Cisse’s squad since the Three Lions had never lost to an African team in any of their 20 prior games against them (across all competitions).
With their 2-1 win against Ecuador on Tuesday, the high-flying Lions of Teranga secured six points in Group A, the most they have ever had at the conclusion of a group stage in their history of participation, and were largely believed to be CAF’s greatest chance of putting up a significant campaign at the World Cup.
However, they have been fined 10,000 Swiss Francs, since they did not send a player to a pre-match press conference.
It was discovered that Cisse’s solo appearance at the news conference before the Ecuador game was in breach of FIFA rules, which state that at least one player must be present at all such briefings.
A press release from FIFA, the international football federation, confirmed: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned the Senegalese Football Federation with a fine in the amount of CHF 10,000 and a warning for 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 potential breaches relate to the mandatory press conference that took place on 28 November ahead of Ecuador v. Senegal FIFA World Cup™ match.”
The German national team received a similar punishment after head coach Hansi Flick appeared at the media center alone before their match against Spain last weekend, with Flick saying that he did not want his players “to sit in the car for a total of three hours” just to attend a press conference before a crucial game.
