We asked for replay of playoff final because it was held in strange atmosphere, reveals Gamal Allam
Gamal Allam, the head of Egyptian FA, has confirmed that they are going to speak to FIFA and ask them to replay the playoff final against Senegal because they believe the players were attacked. The Pharaohs lost to Senegal, on penalties, and thus failed to make the cut for the 2022 World Cup.
As Egypt secured a first leg win over Senegal, many expected them to walk away with a berth at the 2022 World Cup but things simply didn’t go to plan. An early own goal from Hamdi Fathi, in the early minutes of the second leg, saw Senegal fight their way back into the game. However, despite clear cut chances for both sides, the game remained level in normal time and extra-time which forced a penalty shoot-out.
The Egyptians missed more than a few of their kicks, with even Mohamed Salah failing to hit the target, and Senegal walked away as winners. However, the second leg was largely overshadowed by the actions of a number of home fans as they targeted the Egypt bus with objects and even Salah, during his penalty, with a laser pointers which upset many. So much so that Gamal Allam has confirmed that the Egyptian FA have sent a complaint to FIFA and have asked for a replay.
"Hani Abu Rida, Hassan Mustafa and the Egyptian officials in the African and International Federations must intervene to support the Egyptian team. I am on my way to Qatar to attend the FIFA Congress on Thursday afternoon. We asked to meet FIFA President Gianni Infantino as well as Patrice Motsepe, President of the Confederation of African Football," Allam said, reported Goal.
"We asked for a replay of the match because the match was held in a strange atmosphere, and if we had lost in normal circumstances, we would have congratulated Senegal. We will present what happened to the disciplinary committee in the Federation and await a response. There are many things that happened with us in the match. Our players were attacked.
"Mohamed Salah had the most share of the Senegalese fans' attack on him, which tried to intimidate the players as well, and we asked that the board of directors be on the bench of the match but they refused."