{"id":605435,"date":"2021-12-15T07:51:48","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T12:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=605435"},"modified":"2021-12-15T07:52:45","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T12:52:45","slug":"european-club-association-threaten-releasing-players-afcon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2021\/12\/15\/european-club-association-threaten-releasing-players-afcon\/","title":{"rendered":"European Club Association Threaten to Withhold African Players for AFCON"},"content":{"rendered":"

The European Club Association (ECA) has threatened not to release their players for the African Cup of Nations<\/a> due to be held next month. In a letter to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the ECA has raised their concerns about letting their players leave for international duty during this time.<\/p>\n

This has put the competition in jeopardy of losing its star players, such as Egypt’s Mohammed Salah and Senegal’s Sadio Mane and Edouard Mendy.<\/p>\n

The tournament was originally due to be played in June and July 2020 but was moved to January and February 2021 following climate concerns<\/a> in the host nation, Cameroon.<\/p>\n

However, due to the impact of Covid-19, the African Cup of Nation was delayed again to January 2022. The pandemic is now threatening to derail the competition again following the ECA’s letter.<\/p>\n

European Club Association Threaten Against Releasing AFCON Players<\/h2>\n

The ECA’s Concerns<\/h3>\n

The European body’s concerns<\/a> are three-fold: they fear for the players’ well-being, clubs being without key players for January and February, and whether all players will return “in a timely fashion”.<\/p>\n

The ECA believes these listed principles are at risk of not being implemented and therefore they have the right not to release the players for international duty.<\/p>\n

In the letter<\/a>, the ECA said: “It is the obligation of each National Association that wishes to call a player for national team duty to establish to the satisfaction of the respective clubs that all application medical protocols have been implemented and will be enforced.<\/p>\n

“As we all know and as is public information, various National Associations have recently failed to properly implement protocols oftentimes with worrying degrees of negligence.”<\/p>\n

They further added: “As far as we are aware, CAF has not yet made available a suitable medical and operational protocol for the AFCON tournament.”<\/p>\n

The ECA raising their issue with when the tournament is played resurrects a longstanding conflict between Europe’s and Africa’s match scheduling. They state that because the two periods collide “there cannot be mandatory release” of players for international duty.<\/p>\n

The final principle is at risk due to potential travel restrictions and quarantine. It is their view that players will be unavailable for longer than the release period.<\/p>\n

AFCON to Go Ahead<\/h3>\n

Despite the indirect from the ECA to seemingly block players from being released, CAF is determined the completion will go ahead as planned.<\/p>\n

Luxolo September, Head of Media Relations and Operations at CAF, dismissed rumours<\/a> of cancellation as “fake news”.<\/p>\n

CAF General Secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba also said they are pressing on with the competition<\/a>. Yesterday he held meetings with Cameroon sports minister Professor Narcisse Mouelle Kombi and public health minister Manaouda Malachie to work on organisational matters.<\/p>\n

Mosengo-Omba said: “The meetings were important in getting a level of understanding on the state of readiness in Cameroon.\u00a0 There is a lot of work that is being done. We have to continue with the same momentum. We cannot rest. We have to work around the clock.<\/p>\n

“I’m not resting, the LOC cannot rest. CAF cannot rest. Everyone must join the efforts. We want to see a great TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations here in Cameroon in January next year. Together with the Minister of Sport, we discussed all the pending issues and the way forward.”<\/p>\n

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Main Photo<\/p>\n

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Embed from Getty Images<\/a>