CAIRO (KDVR) – Vuvuzelas, the widely loathed soundtrack of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, would have been a much more welcome distraction than the ones that made an appearance during a World Cup qualifier between Egypt and Senegal.
Following 120 minutes of regulation play, the game on Tuesday concluded with a Senegalese penalty shootout win of 3-1. But countless laser pointers, racist banners, thrown projectiles and a storming of the field at the final whistle all seemed to play a role in the outcome.
Now, the Egyptian Football Association has filed a complaint against the Senegalese Football Association.
“The Egyptian team was subjected to racism after offensive banners appeared in the stadium stands against the players, specifically against Mohamed Salah, the team leader,” according to a post on their Instagram account.
The photograph in the Instagram post showed the team’s bus window shattered, allegedly the result of projectiles thrown from outside the vehicle.
The game was held in the recently opened Stade Me Abdoulaye Wade in Dakar, Senegal, and was one of several pivotal elimination matches held across the globe on Tuesday. The winners punched their tickets to the upcoming World Cup set for Qatar in the fall.
What happened during Senegal vs. Egypt
Mo Salah, as he is known in short the world over, took the first penalty kick during the shootout and appeared, at first glance, to have a face highlighted with a green marker.
The number of laser pointers coming from the stands, aimed at the Ballon d’Or nominee’s eyes, seemed impossible to see through. He and three other Egyptian players who stepped up to take one of the spot-kicks missed as green dots danced both around and on them.
The crowds also terrorized the players by throwing glass and rocks at them.
Following the final whistle, fans in the crowd began cascading down onto the field. Salah was escorted out by minimal security while being pelted with missiles, but several of his teammates could be seen being confronted by the pitch invaders while trying to exit the pitch.
The Senegal player who scored the winning penalty kick, Sadio Mane, is actually Salah’s teammate at Liverpool F.C. in England, where they have won several trophies in recent years while each respectively vying for the top scorer spot in the English Premier League.
In a statement, FIFA told Sky Sports News: “FIFA is currently in the process of analyzing the official match reports of the FIFA World Cup qualifier match between Senegal and Egypt.”
“The relevant information included in the match reports will be evaluated by the competent disciplinary bodies before deciding on the next steps to be taken.”
Seperate from this game, during Ghana’s win over Nigeria, fans of the losing side invaded the pitch, which triggered the use of tear gas to disperse the crowds. During the ordeal, a FIFA medical officer reportedly died of a heart attack.
Other African nations who grabbed a seat at the World Cup table this week were Morocco, Tunisia, and Cameroon as they all won their own qualifying matches.
The lead up to this playoff
Egypt and Senegal have played each other several times in the last few months.
This was the second leg of the two-game playoff matchup between the national sides. The first was held less than a week before in Egypt, the winner of which was the home team who walked out with an aggregate score of 1-0.
Aggregate scoring is the cumulative score over the course of two matches, so despite winning, Egypt still had to travel to Senegal and maintain the score before celebrating their entry to the World Cup.
This first leg match came less than two months after the Africa Cup of Nations Final, which saw the two nations meet in a match that also concluded with a penalty shootout, which was won by the Senegalese.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.