The Egyptian Football Association is seeking to replay the match between Senegal and Egypt because of what it called the violent and strange events that occurred during the confrontation and following its end.
Gamal Allam, head of the Football Association, confirmed that the Gabala Board of Directors filed a complaint once morest the Senegalese Federation, following what happened in the match between Egypt and Senegal in the second leg of the final stage of the World Cup qualifiers.
Allam revealed the list of prohibitions that the Egyptian national team was subjected to before confronting Senegal, and behind the scenes of what the Pharaohs’ mission in Senegal was subjected to before the World Cup qualifying match.
“We were exposed to many bad situations before the meeting,” he said in statements to the “Al-Match” program presented by the journalist Hani Hathout on the Sada Al-Balad screen.
And he continued, “We asked them to move from the hotel at 2:30 in the followingnoon because the distance between the hotel and the stadium is not close, we arrived at 4, there was no insurance for the bus during the road, the bus did not enter directly to the stadium, but it took a long time to enter.”
He added: “Mohamed Salah had the largest share of insults, and the fans tried to intimidate the players. We asked the board of directors to be on the bench of the match, but they refused.”
He continued: “The Egyptian fans should have been placed on one side behind the goal, but they insisted on placing them among the Senegalese fans.”
He also referred to the bad words on the loudspeaker in the stadium towards the members of the Egyptian team, and the interference that occurred on the national anthem of the team.
Intervention of the Egyptian Football Association
Gamal Allam also called for the intervention of Hani Abu Rida, Hassan Mustafa, and Egyptian officials in the African and International Federations to help the Egyptian team and support the complaint file.
Allam confirmed that he is in Qatar to attend the FIFA Congress on Thursday followingnoon, where he requested to meet FIFA President Gianni Infantino, as well as Patrice Motsebe, President of the African Confederation, to talk regarding the complaint file that will be sent to the disciplinary committee of the two federations.
He concluded his statements on the program: “We asked for a replay of the match because the match was held in a strange atmosphere, and if we had lost in normal circumstances, we would have congratulated the Senegalese team, and it was over.”
The Egyptian team might not overcome Senegal’s obstacle in the final stage of the African qualifiers following the two matches ended with a total of 1-1, but the penalty kicks gave the Teranga Lions the opportunity to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar.
