PARIS — Europe's top clubs are threatening not to
release players for the upcoming
Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Cameroon over
fears surrounding its COVID-19 health protocol.
اضافة اعلان
The European Club Association, which represents leading
clubs across the continent, made its concerns known to
FIFA in a letter seen by
AFP.
"With regards to applicable protocols, as far as we are
aware, CAF (the Confederation of African football) has not yet made available a
suitable medical and operational protocol for the AFCON tournament, in the
absence of which clubs will not be able to release players for the
tournament," the ECA told football's world governing body.
The Cup of Nations, which was already postponed last year
due to the health crisis, is due to start in Cameroon on January 9 and run
until February 6.
Many of Africa's leading players are based at clubs in
Europe, including
Liverpool duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane, Riyad Mahrez of
Manchester City, Achraf Hakimi and Idrissa Gana Gueye of
Paris Saint-Germain.
The ECA also raised concerns about the danger of players
being unavailable for even longer periods due to the potential for travel
restrictions or mandatory quarantine being introduced, in particular in
relation to the emerging threat posed by the Omicron variant of the
coronavirus.
According to FIFA's rules for the release of players for
international duty during the pandemic, clubs can retain players if "there
is a mandatory quarantine of at least five days on arrival" in the place
"where a national team match is supposed to take place" or when the
player returns to his club.
An executive board meeting of the ECA — which represents
almost 250 European clubs — on December 2 said these principles "must be
strictly respected", according to the letter sent to FIFA Deputy Secretary
General Mattias Grafstroem.
"Should this not be the case ... players (should) not
be released for international duty.”
'Unmanageable'
Clubs could lose players who are called up for the 24-team
tournament from as early as December 27, which is particularly problematic for
those based in England, where there is a busy schedule of matches over the
holiday period in late December and early January.
"For certain clubs expected to release players,
including English and French clubs, domestic competition matches are due to
take place up until early January and hence the overlap of the 2022 AFCON
release dates ... are unmanageable," added the ECA, whose chairman is
Qatar's Nasser al-Khelaifi, also the president of PSG.
CAF general secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba is currently in
Cameroon overseeing final preparations for the delayed tournament.
The organization refused to comment on the ECA threat when
contacted by AFP but, in an update on its website, said that Mosengo-Omba
"urged everyone to work around the clock to ensure that everything is in
place for the opening game.”
However, the pandemic would appear to pose a far bigger
threat to the successful staging of the tournament than concerns about the host
nation's readiness.
The CAF update said its president, Patrice Motsepe, had been
in discussions with the Cameroonian government "on sanitary approach and
COVID-19 protocols".
When contacted by AFP, a senior official in the
Cameroonian Football Federation (Fecafoot) dismissed any suggestion the tournament could be
called off as "fake news".
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