Senegal has announced that Sadio Mane will not participate in the 2022 World Cup owing to a leg injury.
The Bayern Munich forwards was initially a question mark for the competition due to a right fibula injury, but he was chosen in the anticipation that he would be ready to play after the “first games.”
Manuel Afonso, the team physician for Senegal, said on Thursday, November 17, that the player would not be able to recuperate from the injury in time and would be leaving the team.
“Unfortunately, today’s [Thursday] MRI shows us that the improvement is not as favorable as we imagined and unfortunately we have to withdraw Sadio from the World Cup,” Afonso said in a video on the official Senegal Twitter account.
Prior to the tournament in Qatar, Mane was hurt during Bayern Munich’s 6-1 victory over Werder Bremen in the penultimate round of Bundesliga games.
After barely 20 minutes, he was replaced, and the club discovered the following day that he had suffered an injury to the “head of the fibula bone in his lower right leg.”
According to German media, the former Liverpool player will have surgery on Thursday night in Innsbruck, Austria.
The loss of Mane will be a significant setback for the African champions. In their group, they compete against the Netherlands, Ecuador, and the hosts Qatar; they may also run into England in the opening round.
