Egypt coach Hossam Hassan has attacked the Confederation of African Football (CAF), accusing organizers of unfair treatment following his team's semi-final defeat to Senegal at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
The Pharaohs were eliminated after Sadio Mane's late strike handed Mohamed Salah's side a 1-0 defeat, resulting in a furious reaction in the Egyptian camp.
Also read: Mane's strike helps Senegal beat Egypt to reach AFCON 2025 final
Hassan raised seven fingers on the pitch after the final whistle, a reference to Egypt's record seven AFCON titles, as Egyptian players confronted the match officials in the center circle, suggesting the referee was financially influenced.
Hasan claimed that his team was harmed by the tournament's fixture schedule, pointing to the heavy travel and shorter recovery time compared to their opponents.
Egypt were forced to travel 490 miles from Agadir to Tangier for the semi-finals, just four days after their quarter-final win over Ivory Coast.
He criticized CAF for giving Senegal an extra day's rest and playing their previous match against Mali in the same stadium where they later defeated Egypt.
“Egypt does not need excuses and apologies,” Hassan said as quoted by SportyFM. “Egypt is great, and no one will dare to win seven titles like us.
“We just needed to be fair like Senegal. We played the day after the Senegal match, who were then scheduled to play the semi-finals on the same ground, and I was surprised by that.
“Under what FIFA laws is what happened to the Egyptian team allowed? When a team reaches the semi-finals, do you respect it or torture it?”
“Hopefully the teams would be given equal rest so that we could have a great semi-final, but what happened was that three teams got more rest.”
