Senegal have been defended by Confederation of African Football (CAF) medical doctor Dr. Thulani Ngwenya for their handling of Sadio Mane's head injury against Cape Verde.
Mane received a nasty blow to the head in a collision with opposition goalkeeper Vozinha – who was sent off after a VAR review – in Tuesday's Africa Cup of Nations last-16 tie.
The Liverpool forward was given treatment on the field but was allowed to stay on and subsequently curled in a brilliant opener for Senegal, who went on to win 2-0.
However, Mane collapsed to the ground when celebrating his goal and was taken off shortly afterwards before being assessed at hospital.
He later took to social media to assure worried supporters that "all is well", but brain injury association Headway criticised Senegal for allowing Mane to play on after the collision.
"On the face of it, this seems to be yet another example of football putting results ahead of player safety," said Luke Griggs, deputy chief executive of Headway.
"This was a sickening collision that clearly left both players in enough distress for a concussion to have surely been considered a possibility at the very least.
"At that point, the principle of 'if in doubt, sit it out!' should have resulted in Mane being substituted without another ball being kicked."
Griggs added: "This is now a real test of leadership for CAF and world governing body FIFA – particularly if Senegal declare Mane fit for Sunday's quarter-final.
"If football wants to be taken seriously when it comes to concussion, it simply must take action to enforce and strengthen its protocols."
But Dr. Ngwenya insisted Mane is in good hands with the Senegal medical team, who remain in dialogue with Premier League side Liverpool.
"We have a very capable medical team. Senegal have two team doctors, who are highly commended," Dr. Ngwenya is quoted as saying by Sky Sports.
"I know the team doctors are responsible, so they communicate with the club and I understand that they have actually communicated with Liverpool.
"What I know is that after taking Mane for further investigations, we scanned the head and there was no structural damage, but that does not rule out concussion.
"I'm confident that my colleagues are taking care of the player and the player was in good spirits when I saw him in the hospital."
Dr. Ngwenya added: "I've heard people say, 'why wasn't he removed from the game?' The medical assessment is based on what you see and assess at that particular time.
"The medical team spent quite a significant amount of time assessing Mane.
"It might have been during the assessment the medical team came to a decision it was just a head collision, not concussion because they couldn't pick up anything that was concussion.
"We need to give the benefit of the doubt to them because you can make an assessment at the time and then two minutes later it's different.
"But when I went in there were features of concussion, hence it was easy for me to actually make that call to say we need to remove the player out of the game.
"The player is not capacitated to make a decision because they are confused, so it's you as a doctor that needs to make a decision on their behalf."
Mane posted an image of himself back in the gym on his personal Instagram account on Thursday, accompanied by the caption "recovering".
Despite potentially suffering from concussion after the sickening blow, he has not been ruled out of Senegal's quarter-final against Equatorial Guinea on Sunday.
"I'm not sure if he will be available for the next match. When you look at the protocols, I don't know whether he will be ready. I can't make that assessment," Ngwenya said.
"That judgement can only be made by the team doctors that are managing him on a daily basis."
Kompany targeting Champions League top eight despite stuttering start
Vincent Kompany is eyeing a place in the top eight of the new Champions League format with Bayern Munich despite back-to-back losses in the competition.
Bayern welcome Benfica to the Allianz Arena on Wednesday, hoping to recover from defeats to Aston Villa and Barcelona, the first time they have failed to win consecutive games in the competition since April 2017.
Kompany's started their Champions League campaign with a 9-2 thrashing of Dinamo Zagreb, but have since plummeted down the new league table.
They find themselves 23rd after three matches. However, they have fared better in the Bundesliga, sitting three points clear at the top of the table after nine games.
"What we know is you have to win around six (of eight) games to reach the top eight," Kompany said.
"You have to win three games and that should be enough for the playoffs. My goal is to reach the top eight."
Bayern last failed to reach the Champions League knockout stages in 2002-03, finishing bottom of a group that featured Deportivo La Coruna, Lens and Milan.
But despite their stuttering start in the competition so far, Kompany said the new format plays no role in the team's planning.
"I don't want to think too far ahead because we have enough games," Kompany said.
"We have to win against Benfica. I don't want to spend too much time thinking about what could happen in January.
"No one knows how it will work. We only know we want to win tomorrow. We play at home. That is my only goal."
Bayern, however, have every confidence of getting their European campaign back on track, with the German outfit boasting an impressive record against Benfica.
They have played 12 major European matches against Benfica and have never lost (W9 D3).
But Bruno Lage's side will be looking to buck that trend, having beaten Atletico Madrid and Red Star Belgrade so far, but they did lose to Feyenoord last time out.
"We have a lot of confidence going into this game. We will always adapt and take the steps that are right for the team," Kompany said.
"But to say we will change everything is not serious. We just want to win again at home.
Benzema: Mbappe must adapt to Madrid role and forget 'best in world' Vinicius
Kylian Mbappe must learn to play as a central striker at Real Madrid because he cannot displace Vinicius Junior on the left wing.
Those were the words of Los Blancos' second-highest scorer of all time, Karim Benzema.
Mbappe has scored eight goals in 14 appearances in all competitions for Madrid since his move from Paris Saint-Germain, but has failed to score in his last five games.
The 26-year-old has been deployed in a more central role since under Carlo Ancelotti, as opposed to the wide role where he enjoyed success with the Parisiens.
"The problem, in my opinion, is that [Mbappe] is not a central striker, even with the national team, every time he plays as a number nine he doesn't feel right, because that's not his position," Benzema said on Spanish television show El Chiringuito.
"On the left, he's got a guy who's at the same level as him, Vinicius, so there is a problem.
"You can't play Vinicius as a number nine or on the right, because when he plays on the left he makes the difference in every game.
"Mbappe isn't a real number nine. People ask a lot of him and he's under a lot of pressure, this isn't Paris Saint-Germain."
The France captain has underperformed his expected goals (xG) figure in LaLiga by 1.75 this term, recording a shot conversion rate of just 18.18% from his 33 total attempts.
He has also missed seven big chances, with only Real Betis duo Abde Ezzalzouli and Vitor Roque (both eight) and Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski (11) wasting more in LaLiga.
In Madrid's last game, a 4-0 Clasico defeat, Mbappe recorded just 27 touches. Only Aurelien Tchouameni (24) registered fewer among those who started the encounter.
Benzema also endured a difficult start to life in the Spanish capital, netting just nine goals in his 33 appearances in all competitions in his debut season after his move from Lyon.
He would, however, go on to become one of Madrid's best ever players, scoring 354 times in 648 outings, a total that puts him behind only Cristiano Ronaldo (450) in the club's history.
Benzema won 25 major honours during his time at the club, also scooping the Ballon d'Or in 2022, and had some advice for his compatriot moving forward.
"Don't give up, because I don't think he's going to push Vinicius to move. He's the best player in the world at the moment," Benzema added.
"Mbappe needs to get it into his head that today he's a number nine, and forget about the left flank for a while."
Mbappe will be back in action for Madrid on Tuesday when they face Milan in the Champions League.
Luis Enrique in awe of Simeone energy ahead of reunion
Paris Saint-Germain coach Luis Enrique was full of praise for his former rival Diego Simeone as he prepares to go head-to-head with the Atletico Madrid boss in the Champions League.
PSG and Atletico, who reached the semi-finals and the quarter-finals respectively last season, will face off on Wednesday having both won just one of their three league-phase games.
A home victory would boost PSG, currently 19th with four points, while Atletico, languishing in 27th on three, are aiming to recover from back-to-back losses.
PSG have never faced Atletico in the Champions League before but Luis Enrique's Barcelona defeated Simeone's Atletico side nine times in their 14 meetings between 2014 and 2017, drawing twice and losing three times.
Luis Enrique led Barca to a Champions League and LaLiga double in 2014-15 followed by another league title the following year.
"We've played against each other as players and then as managers. I admire Simeone, when a coach can stay for so many years at a top club it means he is great because that is such a difficult thing to do," Luis Enrique told reporters on Tuesday.
Simeone has managed Atletico for 13 years, guiding them to two LaLiga titles and two Europa League crowns, though the Madrid side had considered hiring Luis Enrique prior to Simeone's arrival.
"I had given my word to another club. If I had gone to Atleti, I would not have stayed half as long as Simeone because I don't have the energy as him," added Luis Enrique.
"They are lucky to have found Simeone as a coach. You need a lot of energy, to be able to convince all your players over the long-term."
PSG, having lost Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid in the close season, have just two goals in their three Champions League games, beating Girona 1-0 but drawing 1-1 with PSV and losing 2-0 at Arsenal.
"I have no doubt we can improve in defence and attack, whether it is with the defender duos of Marquinhos and Willian Pacho, or Milan Skriniar and Lucas Beraldo, or in the midfield," Luis Enrique said.
"I understand you want to discuss individual players, but we analyse things from a broader perspective.
"What interests me is to always generate goalscoring opportunities and to arrive in the penalty area because you have managed to be stronger than your opponent.
"That is my objective as a coach: to always generate opportunities."
Close-season signing Matvey Safonov, who kept a clean sheet in their opening win against Girona, might replace number one goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, whose mistakes proved costly at Arsenal and against PSV.
"You will find out tomorrow. After a good cup of cappuccino, I will decide who the goalkeeper is," Luis Enrique said.
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