By Victor Kanayo
World football body, FIFA, has fined one of Africa’s representatives at the ongoing 2022 World Cup Senegal.
The West African nation was fined £8,700 for breaking FIFA rules ahead of their World Cup last-16 clash with England.
The charge was due to the team’s Coach Aliou Cisse attending his pre-match press conference ahead of their last group game against Ecuador without a player from his squad.
Confirming the development, FIFA via a statement said, “The Fifa Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned the Senegalese Football Federation with a fine in the amount of CHF 10,000 and a warning for breaches of article 44 of the Regulations for the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022™, article 2.7.2 of the Media and Marketing Regulations and article 8.5.3 of the Team Handbook.
“The potential breaches relate to the mandatory press conference that took place on 28 November ahead of the Ecuador v. Senegal Fifa World Cup™ match.”
FIFA rules dictates that the day before a game, every team must conduct a presser in one of two press conference rooms at the main media centre.
The team’s head coach must attend, along with one player from his squad.
Before their first two games, Cisse went to the press conferences with Krepin Diatta and Kalidou Koulibaly respectively.
But ahead of the Ecuador clash, he opted to come alone – defying the FIFA regulations.
Germany suffered similar fate and the European team was hit with £8,800 penalty for the same offence before their draw with Spain.