Sadio Mane has revealed the circumstances that surrounded his appearance in the AFCON semi-finals this past winter. The player suffered a serious head injury in the Round of 16 fixture against Cape Verde, and had to be assessed by the doctors.
Liverpool intervened and asked for him to be rested for five days, according to the concussion protocol. And alongside his club, the doctors also wanted the winger to sit out the quarter final. But the player was having none of it.
Sadio Mane suggested death contract to play for Senegal
“When I was injured against Cape Verde and had a concussion, I never spoke about it that day,” Sadio Mane stated.
“Liverpool put pressure on the federation and wrote a letter to FIFA saying I needed at least five days of rest, which meant I would miss the quarter-finals.”
“I knew I shouldn’t play, but I said ‘let’s have a contract’. It will be my responsibility, I will sign it’,” he continued.
“If I die, they can say it’s my fault. It’s nobody’s fault. They said, ‘Sadio, you can’t play’ but I said, ‘no, no, it’s out of the question.'”
“I didn’t sign the contract, but I was ready to do it. The doctor said: ‘Let’s do a scan on the morning of the match’.”
Mane went on to feature for the entire 90 minutes of the game, and captained his country to the AFCON title by winning against Egypt in the finals.
