Liverpool tried to stop me from playing at AFCON 2021 – Sadio Mane reveals

Bayern Munich forward, Sadio Mane, has said Liverpool almost stopped him from playing for Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations earlier this year.

Mane claims he was asked to sign a contract to take responsibility for his death, after suffering a concussion against Cape Verde at the tournament.

“Liverpool put pressure on the federation and wrote a letter to Fifa that I needed at least five days rest so that meant I was to miss the quarter-finals,” he told Pro Direct Soccer France.

He added: “I called the federation president and told him we need to have a meeting because I have to play. I could give up my life.

“I said ‘I know I shouldn’t play but let us have a contract. It will be my responsibility, I will sign’.

“If I die, they have to say it is my fault. No one’s fault. But they said ‘Sadio, you cannot play’ but I said ‘no, no, it is out of the question’.”

Mane went on to net the winning spot-kick, as Senegal beat Egypt in the final of AFCON 2021.