Senegal has officially announced that Sadio Mane, a striker for Bayern Munich, will not be able to participate in the World Cup because he needs surgery to repair a leg injury.
Senegal had included the former Liverpool star, who moved to Munich in the summer, in the hopes that he would be able to play some part in Qatar despite injuring his leg in a 6-1 win for Bayern over Werder Bremen on November 8.
However, Mane has been officially ruled out, so Senegal will try to build on their success at the Africa Cup of Nations without their talisman. This is the first-ever winter World Cup, and Mane is the latest high-profile name to be ruled out of participating. Others, including Paul Pogba, N’Golo Kante, and Mane’s former Liverpool teammate Diogo Jota, have also been injured and will not be able to participate in the championship tournament.
Bayern issued a statement after Mane’s injury, fueling rumors that the 30-year-old would miss the World Cup due to his condition. Sadio Mane fractured the head of his right fibula, the club announced after FC Bayern’s 6-1 win over Werder Bremen. The African Footballer of the Year won’t be able to play in Saturday’s match against Schalke. In the coming days, we will conduct additional tests. Bayern Munich’s medical team has been in touch with the SFA’s.
Mane is a vital cog for Senegal, as he has scored 34 goals in 94 appearances for his country. Four of those goals came in the AFCON tournament, as he helped his team to victory over Egypt and former Liverpool teammate Mohamed Salah in a penalty shootout.
Senegal’s manager Aliou Cisse was hopeful that Mane would be able to contribute to the team’s success at the tournament. Another scan on Thursday confirmed that Mane needs surgery to fix the problem, despite Cisse’s insistence that it wasn’t necessary.