Senegal’s World Cup qualification was sealed by Sadio Mane’s winning shootout penalty, with Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah among those missing for Egypt.
Several visiting players were targeted by green laser pointers during the shootout, including Egypt captain Salah.
It’s also been claimed that the Egypt team bus was attacked, resulting in injuries.
The Egyptian Football Association [EFA] said in a statement that it had filed a formal complaint against its Senegalese counterpart prior to the match, with Fifa, the Confederation of African Football [CAF], the match observer, and the security official.
“The Egyptian team was subjected to racism following the appearance of offensive banners in the stands aimed at the players, specifically Mohamed Salah,” according to the statement.
“In addition, the Senegalese fans terrorized the Egyptian players by throwing bottles and stones at them during the warm-up, as well as attacking the Egyptian team bus, causing glass shattering and some injuries, as documented by pictures and videos attached to the complaint.”
The EFA posted images of the team bus’s damage to Instagram, as well as images of the offensive banner aimed at Salah.
Senegal beat Egypt 1-0 in extra time to tie the World Cup play-off match 1-1 on aggregate. The new 50,000-seater Stade Me Abdoulaye Wade in Dakar was packed to capacity.
Six weeks after winning the Africa Cup of Nations final, the African champions defeated Egypt in a shootout, winning 3-1 on penalties to secure a place in the November tournament in Qatar.
Green lasers could be seen shining on Liverpool forward Salah’s face as he stepped up to take his penalty, which he fired over the crossbar.
At full-time, the 29-year-old was escorted down the tunnel by security personnel as fans threw objects from above.
Before deciding on the next steps, Fifa’s disciplinary body is reviewing game reports.
Augustin Senghor, President of the Senegalese Federation and Vice-President of CAF, said he would await official reports on the incidents.
“I didn’t pay attention to the projectiles thrown from the stands,” Senghor admitted. “Concerning the lasers, if they were used, it would be a first in Senegal. But we know that there were a lot of these in Cairo, and [they are] commonly used in specific countries. Senegal is not accustomed to this.”
“In my opinion, I didn’t see anything during this game that could be considered chauvinism because the Senegalese are known to be very welcoming,” he added.
