AFCON
European clubs may withhold release of players for Afcon
The Africa Cup of Nations in Cameroon which is just four weeks away may turn to be another version of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) as European Club Association is putting pressure to avert the release of players for the African football premier competition.
The bulk of the 576 players across 24 teams expected for the Africa Cup of Nations play for European clubs.
In fact, some teams like Nigeria, Cameroon and Ghana have virtually all their players domiciled in Europe.
The European Club Association (ECA) has expressed its “deep concerns” regarding player welfare before the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations and is seeking urgent talks with FIFA.
The independent body highlighted the “worsening public health situation” following the emergence of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, which was first discovered in South Africa last month.
Incidentally, South Africa will not be part of the Africa Cup of Nations as the team did not qualify. The ECA stance may lead to a fresh dispute over releasing players for international duty next month.
The Nations Cup begins in Cameroon on 9 January and runs until 6 February, while there is another international window between 24 January and 2 February for some other confederations.
The ECA wants to work with world governing body Fifa to “ensure all necessary precautions are in place to protect players and club interests” as the health situation “continues to deteriorate in an alarming manner”.
Countries have begin reintroducing travel bans, quarantine requirements and other restrictions because of concerns about the impact of the Omicron variant.
The United Kingdom has added 10 southern African countries to its travel red list. Among these are Malawi and Zimbabwe who are in Group B of Afcon.
The ECA is understood to be desperate to avoid a repeat of the problems during September’s international window.
At that time Premier League clubs refused to release players for duty in red-list countries, because at the time they would have been required to quarantine in a government-approved hotel for 10 days on their return to the UK.
Four England-based Argentina internationals did report for their country, but their presence led to the abandonment of the 2022 World Cup qualifier against Brazil on 5 September.
Brazilian health officials said the four players in question – Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia and Tottenham’s Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero – had breached local rules on quarantine, with the UK then on Brazil’s red list.
Meanwhile, the ECA has voiced its “unanimous” opposition to a biennial World Cup, a proposal that the Confederation of African Football has backed.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino is keen to hold the tournament, which is being expanded to 48 teams for the 2026 edition, every two years rather than in a four-year cycle.
Chaired by Paris Saint-Germain president Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the ECA says its position represents over 240 professional clubs in Europe, while European clubs provided almost 90% of the players who featured in the knockout stages of the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
It said the new international match calendars for men’s and women’s football must ensure the “right balance” between the club and international game, and take into account the voice of club football and the ECA in any decisions taken.
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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