World Cup Round of 16 opponents Senegal are being investigated by FIFA and will be punished for breaking the rules

England’s next World Cup opponents Senegal are under investigation by FIFA for breaking the rules in Qatar.

The African nation will face the Three Lions in the round of 16 on Sunday after beating Ecuador 2-1 in their last Group A match.

But Senegal found themselves in hot water ahead of their clash with Gareth Southgate’s side for breaching World Cup regulations.

Ahead of their match against Equateur on Tuesday, Senegal coach Aliou Cisse attended his pre-match press conference without one of his players.

FIFA rules state that the manager must be accompanied by a member of his team to one of the two press conference rooms in Doha’s main media centre.

Cissé appeared with Monaco striker Krepin Diatta ahead of Senegal’s opener against the Netherlands.

Kalidou Koulibaly, scorer of the winning goal against Ecuador in the 70th minute, then played alongside him before the victory against Qatar.

But Cisse opted to speak to the media alone earlier in the week, with FIFA saying action will now be taken against the Senegalese FA.

A statement released on Wednesday morning read: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against the Senegalese Football Federation due to potential violations of Article 44 of the Regulations for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, Article 2.7.2 of the Media and Marketing Regulations and Article 8.5.3 of the Team Handbook.

“The potential infractions relate to the mandatory press conference that took place on November 28 before the FIFA World Cup match between Ecuador and Senegal.”

It is highly likely that Senegal will only be fined, with Germany being hit with an £8,800 penalty for the same breach earlier in the tournament.

Hansi Flick has decided not to bring any of his players to the press conference ahead of their 1-1 draw with Spain.

Giving his reasoning, the former Bayern Munich head coach said he didn’t want any member of the squad to make the 71-mile trek from their Zulal Wellness Resort.

He said: “I came alone because we didn’t want a player to spend three hours on the road to come.

“The 26 players are important and everyone has to focus on the game. I’m optimistic.”