Sadio Mane is officially ruled out of 2022 World Cup

By Isaac Darko, DAKAR Senegal

Senegal football Federation has officially announced that Sadio Mané will miss the 2022 World Cup due to injury. 

The 30-year-old picked up an injury in Bayern Munich's penultimate match before the winter break. 

However, coach Aliou Cisse named Mane in his 26-man squad in the hope that he would recover in time to play some part in Qatar. 

Mane was reportedly still in Munich recovering from the right fibula injury while Senegal prepare in Austria for their opening match of the World Cup. 

But in a statement released by the Senegal football Federation on Thursday, cited by Fabrizio Romano, the former Liverpool superstar has been withdrawn from the Teranga Lions roster and he won't play a part in this year's World Cup.

Senegal begin their Group A campaign on Monday against the Netherlands, before also taking on hosts Qatar and Ecuador. 

Mane's fitness has been a major cause of concern for Senegal, who claimed their maiden Africa Cup of Nations title in February. 

The 30-year-old finished second in this year's Ballon d'Or voting behind Karim Benzema and scored the winning penalty in a dramatic shootout victory against Egypt in Cameroon. 

He repeated the feat again against the same opponents to qualify the Lions of Teranga for the World Cup, which starts on Sunday. - Africa