Senegal star Ismail Jakobs has made serious allegations after his side’s dramatic 1-0 extra-time victory over Morocco in the Africa Cup of Nations final, claiming that three Senegal players may have been deliberately poisoned before the match.
Speaking to Sportdigital, the Galatasaray midfielder said the incidents went far beyond normal illness and raised major concerns inside the Senegal camp on the day of the final.
“My personal suspicion is that three of our players were poisoned,” Jakobs said. “It wasn’t some ordinary food poisoning. These three players really collapsed together.”
Jakobs explained that the first incident occurred in the locker room when Krepin Diatta suddenly fell ill.
“That was already very, very scary,” he said. He then described how Ousseynou Niang collapsed during the warm-up, before Pape Matar Sarr went down at halftime. “I don’t want to accuse anyone, but it definitely wasn’t a coincidence,” Jakobs added.
The 26-year-old detailed the condition of his teammates, saying all three were in visible distress.
“They couldn’t even put their tongues back in. They collapsed, were sweating heavily, vomiting at times,” he said. “Krepin couldn’t even hold his head straight before the game.”
Diatta, Niang, and Sarr were taken to hospital in Rabat before and during the final. No official medical details have been released.
So far, no formal statements have been issued by the football associations involved, and the medical reports remain undisclosed, leaving Jakobs’ claims unanswered in the aftermath of Senegal’s AFCON triumph.
