The heated encounter sparked claims of conspiracy by the disgruntled manager, who claimed his team was at a disadvantage in the tournament schedule and suggested other teams were jealous of Egypt’s performance in the competition. Hassan was seen holding up seven fingers on the pitch, representing the number of AFCON titles his country has won. After the final whistle, Egyptian players confronted match officials in the center circle, at times suggesting they had been financially influenced.
Egypt traveled 790 miles from Agadir to Tangier for the match against Senegal, who defeated Ivory Coast just four days earlier.
In contrast, Senegal recovered an extra day despite playing Mali in the same stadium where they won in the semi-finals.
Hassan took the opportunity to highlight the obstacles the team encountered and hinted that such arrangements had intentionally put the team at a disadvantage.
“Egypt needs no excuses or apologies,” he declared, according to SportyFM. “Egypt is great and no one will try to win seven titles like we did.
“We needed fairness like (Senegal). We played on the same field the day after the Senegal game against someone who was playing in the semi-finals and we were surprised by that.”
“According to FIFA law, what happened to the Egyptian team? When a team reaches the semi-finals, do you respect it or torture it?”
“You would expect each team to be given a fair break to see a great semi-final, but what happened is that three teams got more rest.
“I told the players to ignore (the chants from the stands) and focus. I don’t want to talk about it.
“We are the Arabs of Africa, and Egypt is great, the mother of the Arabs in history and title, the mother of Africa, the envy of everyone.”
Despite boasting talents such as Salah and Manchester City forward Omar Marmouche, Egypt have not won an AFCON trophy since 2010, although they won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2008.
In 2022, the Pharaohs came very close, but lost to Senegal on penalties with Mane scoring the decisive spot-kick, while Salah, fifth on the list, did not get the chance to take a penalty.
Egypt must play in the third-place play-off on Saturday, while Senegal prepares to face either hosts Morocco or Nigeria in Sunday’s final.
