The Senegalese Football Association are outraged at West Ham for playing Diafra Sakho in Sunday’s FA Cup Fourth Round tie away at Bristol City, in which he scored the winner, having pulled him from their African Cup of Nations squad earlier that month.
The striker was pulled out from the squad due to an aggravated back injury he sustained against West Brom – an injury he initially picked up while with Senegal on international duty back in November. It was said that Sakho would be out for up to six weeks and would not return until mid-February, but he’s made a seemingly miraculous recovery, and was able to feature in the FA Cup, which is a breach of FIFA regulations.
The Senegalese national team coach, Alain Giresse spoke with L’Equipe about the matter, and expects this matter not to simply fade away without question.
‘We will be concerned about this later, but I’m very surprised to learn that he [Sakho] plays. For when you can not fly for six weeks and you’re playing a football game … There might be a miraculous medicine in England ‘ – Giresse
Sakho himself has been subject of some particularly hateful comments from Senegalese fans in the last 24 hours, as the Daily Mail picked up on. Here’s the pick of the bunch:
‘Congratulations on your goal, I hope you never play for Senegal again, the Senegalese people feel betrayed.’
Sakho replied to these comments on his facebook page:
‘I took the time to browse all your reactions on social networks. Very quickly my joy from scoring and rescuing my club has turned into sadness and anger. Sadness because some of your words touched me deep in my person and my heart and this, without you knowing what has really happened. And great anger, because after all my struggles day after day, season after season to finally wear the jersey of my homeland, and my family, the only nation that matters to me – you doubt my love and my patriotism. My absence at CAN 2015, my first CAN, was not painless. The dream of contributing to the victory of my country got away from me this year, but it is not dead! ‘Never doubt the lion sleeping in me, as I never doubt the passion that burns within you.’
