Senegalese player suspects poisoning in AFCON final

It’s not going away. The controversial AFCON final between Senegal and Morocco has ended a week ago but the ramifications are still there. The Lions of Teranga won the game 1-0 after Brahim Diaz’s penalty miss and Pape Thiaw’s decision to move players into the locker room (and then brings them back) and now, new details emerged. Ismail Jakobs, Senegalese-German player, who came in during the extra-time came back to the his club, Galatasaray, and gave an interview for Sportdigital.

There, he talked about the last-minute, officially illness-related absences of Senegal stars Krepin Diatta, Ousseynou Niang, and Pape Matar Sarr, saying that "something had happened" to the players.

"My personal suspicion is that three of our players were poisoned, and it wasn't just a normal case of food poisoning where they vomited or something. These three players really collapsed. Diatta was the first one and it was really, really scary" he said.

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Ousseynou Niang then collapsed during warm-ups, before Pape Matar Sarr slumped over at halftime.

"I don't want to blame anyone, but it definitely wasn't a coincidence. All three of them couldn't even stick their tongues in anymore. And they simply collapsed. Sweating profusely. Krepin couldn't even straighten his head before the game. He was vomiting" he recalled. Before and during the game, Diatta, Niang, and Sarr were all hospitalized. Specific medical diagnoses regarding the condition of the affected players have also not yet been released. Local media had already reported a potential poisoning incident immediately after the final. Will there be an investigation and will we get to see the results remains to be seen.