AFCON
ARSENAL’S AUBAMEYANG, PARTEY TO MISS CUP OF NATIONS GAMES
Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and midfielder Thomas Partey will both miss one game of their respective Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaigns due to Covid-19 restrictions, their Premier League club Arsenal said on Monday (March 22).
Club football is on a two-week hiatus as players join their national teams during the international break but some countries are off limits due to strict Covid-19 quarantine rules, with Fifa giving clubs the power to release players.
“Auba has been selected by Gabon, who will host DR Congo before a trip to face Angola. However, Auba will only be available for the home fixture due to travel restrictions relating to Angola,” Arsenal said in a statement.
“Thomas has been selected in the Ghana squad, as they host Sao Tome & Principe and (travel to) South Africa in Africa Cup of Nation qualifying. However, Thomas will only be available for the home fixture due to travel restrictions relating to South Africa.”
Both Angola and South Africa are on the “red list” of countries from which travellers are refused entry to the United Kingdom while those with residence rights in the UK must quarantine for 10 days in a government-approved hotel.
Neither Ghana nor Gabon have sealed qualification yet with two games to go. Ghana are top of Group C, level on points with South Africa, while Gabon are second in Group D, level on points with leaders Gambia.
Last week, French clubs refused to release foreign players who were set to play international games outside the European Union as they would have had to quarantine for seven days on return.
But the French sports ministry changed its mind and granted exemptions as long as the players complied with strict sanitary and medical protocols.
-Reuters
The Libyan Football Federation (LFF) has sacked its Serbian coach, Milutin Sredojević who is popularly known as Micho.
This is coming ahead of Libya’s back-to-back Africa Cup of Nations clashes with Nigeria next month.
Paradoxically, Sports Village Square gathered that the coach’s contract was only recently renewed for six months before the axe fell on the Serbian.
His sack was precipitated by the results obtained in their teo matches of the AFCON qualifiers.
Libya drew 1-1 with Rwanda at home and lost 2-1 away to Benin Republic despite beig a goal up at half time.
The Libyan side, Mediterranean Knights are due to play against the Nigeria Super Eagles in Uyo on 6 October while the return leg holds on 14 October at the 11 July Stadium in Tripoli.
According to information Sports Village Square gathered from Tripoli, the Mediterranean Knights’ coach, Micho led the Libyan national team to win nine matches since taking over in October of last year, he failed to build a strong team due to his poor choices.
He also took a risk with the footballers chosen in the AFCON qualifiers, and the result was shocking to the Libyan sports audience.
According to sources close to the Libyan Football Federation, there is a strong tendency to sign a national coach to lead the Libyan team during the remaining qualifiers for the African Cup of Nations.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe has lashed out at Ghana and some other African countries whose home grounds were recently banned from hosting CAF matches owing to inadequate facilities. He made the remarks in Nairobi, Kenya during a press conference,
After the MatchDay 2 of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, CAF ruled Ghana’s Baba Yara Stadium in Kumasi as being inadequate to host international matches. Being the only approved ground in the country, Ghana will now look towards either Cote d’Ivoire or Togo for their remaining home matches of the Afcon qualifiers.
Other African countries without approved home grounds are: Djibouti, Chad, Niger, Eritrea, Gabon, Sudan, Zimbabwe, Madagascar, São Tomé and Burundi.
Motsepe voiced his frustration over the recurring issue of nations being unable to host home games.
“Nothing frustrates me more than a national team or club side having to play home matches outside,” he stated.
He stressed the significance of playing in front of home fans, adding, “You can’t grow football if the national teams or club sides aren’t playing in front of their home fans.”
Motsepe reiterated CAF’s commitment to working with countries to ensure they have at least one suitable stadium to host international fixtures.
“Our conversations in every country are to make sure there is at least one stadium capable of hosting a CAF category C game,” he emphasized.
The on-going CAF AFCON Cote d’Ivoire 2023 Coaches Symposium in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire has brought together, the last three coaches that handled the Nigeria national football team.
Gernot Rohr, Jose Peseiro and Austin Eguavoen are part of the the elite coaches currently gathered in Abidjan.
Gernot Rohr whose tenure of 5 years and 55 matches is the longest ever by any coach in Nigeria, is currently handling Nigeria’s Africa Cupof Nations and World Cup qualifying rivals, Benin Republic. He was succeeded in the interim by Austin Eguavoen who is currently having another interim stint.
Peseiro left his position after the Africa Cup of Nations
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