Senegal striker Sadio Mane will not take part in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, his country's federation announced on Thursday, November 17.
Senegal's star man is ruled out of the World Cup in Qatar due to a leg injury. The Bayern Munich forward emerged as a doubt earlier in the week, and Senegal have now confirmed he will not be fit to take part in the tournament.
The 30-year-old picked up the injury in Bayern Munich's 6-1 win over Werder Bremen on November 8. He was substituted on 20 minutes with the team describing it as an injury to the head of the fibula bone in his lower right leg the day after the match.
Despite the injury, Mane was still included in the Senegal squad for the World Cup and was expected to miss at least their first game of the tournament against Netherlands on November 20.
However, the team revealed in a press conference on Thursday that further scans on the two-time African player of the year showed he would require surgery for the injury and would not be able to play.
"The latest news has arrived just now, and since the injury to Sadio Mane which happened on November 8, we made contact very quickly with Bayern Munich to have the information," Senegal team doctor, Manuel Afonso, told reporters.
"The next day, the club communicated to us the images of the first MRI he undertook, which showed an injury to his right knee and for which we went to examine the player and take another look at the images right at the heart of the club.
"This is why I travelled on the 10th and 11th of November to get all of his data. It was decided to undergo another MRI today [November 17] to understand the evolution and determine whether or not it was possible for Sadio Mane to keep his place at the World Cup.
"And, sadly, today's MRI has shown that the evolution is not as favourable as we'd have imagined, and so we've resolved -- sadly -- to declare that Mane is forfeit for this World Cup, and normally a surgical intervention will be scheduled very shortly."
The African nation kick off their World Cup campaign against the Netherlands on Monday, before facing Qatar and Ecuador.