Senegal boss on Mane's condition: We don't play with players' health

Senegal boss Aliou Cisse refuses to agree that they are is putting their players' health at risk after letting 

Sadio Mane

return to the game despite sustaining a head injury in the Teranga Lions'

 Last 16 triumph over Cape Verde. 

After a 56th-minute head collision with rival keeper Vozinha as the two fought for a high ball, the Liverpool attacker collapsed to the ground.

While the Cape Verde goalkeeper was taken off after seeming to be knocked unconscious and was quickly sent off, Mane stayed on the pitch for another quarter-hour scored with a close-range shot in the 63rd minute. 

"I can reassure you that the health of Mane and all the players I have at my availability at the moment is very important," Cisse told GOAL ahead of Sunday's Afcon quarterfinal against Equatorial Guinea. "We don't play with our players' health, nor do our doctors.

"We are professionals as well, so while the result is important, the health of our players doesn't go above the importance of the results."

Following the event on Tuesday,

Headway - the brain injury association

 was one of several organizations who accused Senegal and the Confederation of African Football of endangering Mane's health. 

"On the face of it, this seems to be yet another example of football putting results ahead of player safety," deputy chief executive Luke Griggs said, as per 

.

"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."

In a statement, Senegalese physician Abdourahmane Fedior noted that while Mane's status has to be assessed further, investigations have revealed no signs of concussions.

"All the symptoms he had on the pitch are gone,"

. "His condition requires fairly close monitoring. Everything is normal on the X-ray."

Despite the fact that Mane's fitness for Sunday's match against Equatorial Guinea is unknown, Cisse is optimistic that the Teranga Lions will be able to have their superstar back for the Last Eight game. 

"Sadio is doing well," Cisse continued. "He returned to training yesterday, and we're continuously following his progress. [On Saturday] he will train.

"The [head] clash between two players [in the Cape Verde game] was serious, but he's a sportsman of the highest level and he knows his body well," the Senegal head coach continued. "Today we will see the training session to see how it goes. Yesterday went well so it's reassuring, we hope to have him back for the match."

Senegal is attempting to win their first Nations Cup after reaching the finals in 2002 and 2019. 

On February 2, the victor of their match against Equatorial Guinea will face the winner of the match between Burkina Faso and Tunisia at the Stade Ahmadou Ahidjo in Yaounde.

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