Egyptian FA accuse Senegal fans of racism after World Cup playoff defeat

The Egyptian FA has claimed its team were subjected to racism and intimidation during their World Cup playoff defeat to Senegal, with Mohamed Salah named as being particularly targeted.

The Liverpool forward had lasers shone in his face prior to wildly missing a pivotal penalty in the shootout, with club teammate Sadio Mané converting his own spot kick to send Senegal to the World Cup finals in Qatar.

As well as abuse from the stands, the Egyptian FA claim their team were attacked with rocks and bottles on the team bus before the match in Dakar, posting a number of images to their Instagram page as “proof”. It is unclear whether they will appeal the result, with many feeling the lasers could have adversely affected Salah before his penalty.

A statement from the Egypt FA said: “The Egypt national team have been exposed to racism with offensive signs in the stands against the Egyptian players in general, and Mohamed Salah in particular.

“The crowd also intimidated the players by throwing bottles and rocks on them during the warm-up. The Egyptian group’s busses have also been exposed to assaults that led to broken windows and injuries; filed with pictures and videos as proof in the complaint submitted.”

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Senegal’s Boulaye Dia had scored early on in the match to forced extra-time, levelling the aggregate scores following Egypt’s 1-0 win in the first leg in Cairo.

Following extra-time, the nerve-filled shootout started with four misses, including from both captains – Kalidou Koulibaly and then Salah – but Senegal won the