By Elume Raymond of @ShowWarmup
Guest writer,kick442.com-Cameroon
The European Club Association [ECA] has written to the Confederation of African Football (CAF), informing them of their unwillingness to release players for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
The competition is scheduled to begin on 9 January 2022 in Cameroon with the opener pitting the hosts against the Stallions of Burkina Faso at 6pm local time.
With the tournament fast approaching, the 24 participating countries are hopeful of having their stars in the European leagues released to play a part in the continental showpiece.
However, the ECA has expressed its concerns regarding the release of players for the tournament, stating that the ‘the aggravation of the Covid-19 pandemic and the consequent implementation of new restrictions by various government authorities’ are making it difficult to agree to the request from CAF.
🇨🇲@caf_online_FR GS #Veron_Omba & #LOC president for#AFCON_2021 @KombiPr were at Olembe today. pic.twitter.com/japv15dt3n
— Kick442 (@Kick4422) December 14, 2021
In a letter written to FIFA and CAF on Wednesday, the European Club Association informs them that in view of the lack of adequate health measures taken by CAF relating to the prevention against COVID-19, that European clubs do not have the intention to release African players for the 2021 AFCON.
The ECA earlier implored FIFA and CAF to make sure necessary precautions are in place to protect players and club interests ahead of the tournament.
“The Board also expressed its deep concerns around player safety and welfare ahead of the African Cup Nations and upcoming international windows in early 2022, particularly in light of the worsening public health situation and the severe challenges faced during recent international windows,” they said.
Over 70% of the players that will represent their nation in Cameroon play their football in Europe, which is why it is not a surprise to see the ECA concerned.
In the last six months, a couple of players have collapsed due to heart-related issues, and there have been suggestions that the high number of games might have contributed to it.
The ECA may also be worried about the little matter of Omicron- the new variant of Covid-19- but Doctor Eyongeta Divine believes there is no need to panic yet.
“The world will have a better view of the Omicron over the next few weeks,” he said. “Viruses mutate generally and are usually less aggressive.” “So we expect that Omicron may be easily transferrable but has less mortality rate than the earliest forms of coronavirus,” he concluded.
Bone of contention: The omicron COVID-19 variant
The emergence of the omicron variant of Covid-19 has led to countries around the world reintroducing restrictions and travel bans, and may lead to a fresh dispute over player release for international duty next month.
The public health situation globally looks set to present a major challenge before the African Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon between 9 January and 6 February 2022 and the international transfer window.
The European Club Association board expressed its “deep concerns” around player safety and welfare around the international matches early next year, “particularly in light of the worsening public health situation and the severe challenges faced during recent international windows”.
An ECA statement added: “The board agreed to engage urgently with 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.”
The ECA is understood to be desperate to avoid a repeat of the problems which surrounded the September 2021 international window. At that time Premier League clubs refused to release players for duty in countries on the UK’s red list, 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 World Cup qualifier against Brazil on 5 September 2021.
For the October 2021 window, a new agreement was reached where fully vaccinated players were allowed to travel for international duty in red-list countries on the basis that they quarantined for 10 days at a club facility, only leaving isolation to train and play.
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, afford the necessary safeguards and protections to players which it said were overlooked in the current proposals and take into account the voice of club football and the ECA in any decisions taken.
When news broke out that the EU’s new vaccine passport system would not let in recipients of the Indian-made version of the AstraZeneca vaccine, called Covishield, public backlash was swift.
The controversy around the vaccine passport stems from the fact that Covishield is theoretically already authorized in the EU, UK and by the World Health Organization. But the EU distinguishes between one brand of the AstraZeneca jab, named Vaxzevria, and its identical, but Indian-made version, called Covishield. Covishield is also the main vaccine that has been distributed in Africa and India.
The move effectively cut off Africans and Indians from any prospect of traveling to European countries.
Another Berlin Conference in the making
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.
The European Club Association says clubs in the region cannot release African players for the forthcoming 2021 African Cup of Nations unless national football associations in Africa meet certain stringent conditions.
“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 applicable medical protocols have been implemented and will be strictly enforced,” it stated.
The ECA accused African football associations of failing to “properly implement protocols with worrying degrees of negligence.”
It further demanded that there “cannot be mandatory release in circumstances where the release period’s duration would necessitate players missing official club matches, “that is, official club matches scheduled to take place within the release period.”
“The unavailability of players for club activities cannot extend beyond the agreed release periods (for example, quarantine or travel restrictions meaning that players would be unavailable for longer than the release period).
“Against this backdrop, please note that, at its meeting of December 2, 2021, the ECA executive board unanimously re-echoed its position that the three principles referred to above must be strictly respected and, should this not be the case, that players not be released for national team duty,” said the ECA in an official letter to FIFA Deputy Secretary-General Matthias Grafstrom and the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
As with the Berlin Conference in 1884, what is done for Africans, without Africans, is surely against Africans.
The condescending attitude of clubs and European coaches; “In January there’s a little tournament in Africa,” Jurgen Klopp said about the AFCON tournament in a recent press conference, prompting some furore online.
Liverpool are among the sides that will strongly be affected by the continental competition, and speaking after his side’s recent thumping of Arsenal, Klopp spoke on the prospect of losing star duo Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane to the upcoming competition.
For obvious reasons, that statement did not go down well with a number of fans and it soon became a topic for discussion on social media.
The AFCON is the biggest showpiece continental competition in Africa, and with that in mind, tempers and emotions were set to be on the rise when a certain popular figure appeared to have labelled it ‘little’. Yes that’s exactly what Klopp did in the eyes of some.
Many social media users on the continent did not take that statement lightly and were quick to voice their opinion and sentiments on the matter. One decided to take things further and ask the Liverpool manager for clarity on his statement.
Journalist Ojora Babatunde did not hold back in asking a direct question to the Liverpool manager. A video, which has now gathered much traction, has been a hot talking point on social media.
“I think it’s an insult to the players, an insult to the fans, an insult to the people on the continent and I think you owe the continent an apology.”
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp was forced to clarify his comments about the significance of the Africa Cup of Nations, after his words about the tournament were apparently misconstrued.
Babatunde later said: “he made his point but he should have apologized regardless as the African community aren’t totally pleased with the remark.”
Other managers and coaches have expressed similar feelings about the AFCON in recent times,
“With these kinds of decisions, they are controlling every second so, for sure, they are going to win the African Cup.” – Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho in 2017 vented his anger at Ivory Coast’s refusal to delay the departure of centre-back Eric Bailly by 24 hours so he could play against West Ham. Most Africans however feel that clubs do it on purpose not to release their players.
“We are victims of blackmail.” – Cameroon Journalist Simon Lyonga is unhappy with European club managers who he believes privately encourage their players to reject call-ups to play in the Nations Cup in a comment addressed to European clubs back in 2017.
The way forward: The Show Must Go On
A member of the African football ruling body has dismissed the hint that the biennial African football showpiece would be moved from January 2022. Caf has rubbished speculation that the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations may be moved away from Cameroon due to the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
However, CAF’s director of communications Alex Siewe stated that allusion is false as the African football ruling body never discussed such possibilities.
“We can’t keep spending time dealing with rumours,” Siewe told BBC Sport Africa. “We did not receive any other message or information from our leaders – nothing such as changing of dates or countries. We did not discuss such during all our last meetings.”
“We are on site. We are working. An official delegation from Caf has been released and general secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba is in Cameroon already.”
Now is the time for top clubs to prove that to be forewarned really is to be forearmed. Everyone knew that the Africa Cup of Nations was on the agenda for early 2022 and now, with so many European League players among those heading off to Cameroon to compete for their countries in what their employers view as the world’s worst-timed international tournament, rich clubs must show they are resourceful enough to cope. Otherwise they will pay a heavy price.
Of the 99 signings that Sir Alex Ferguson made as manager of Manchester United only four were African – and one of the reasons for that was the Scot’s wariness about losing a key player in the middle of a campaign. When forking out around £30m for Ivory Coast’s Eric Bailly, José Mourinho obviously figured that some players are so good that the risk is worth running, a feeling that Ferguson once had about Eric Djemba-Djemba.
A research document entitled: The impact of the Africa Cup of Nations on European professional football by Levi Pérez of the Department of Economics, University of Oviedo (ES) from a UEFA Research Grant Programme 2017/18 edition and supported by the Royal Spanish Football Federation came out with the following findings:
The results indicate that European leagues are differentially impacted by
AFCON.
In general, European leagues exhibit a lower competitive balance in those
seasons in which AFCON takes place.
But within-season competitive balance seems to increase during AFCON.
However, significant differences are observed among leagues (opposite effect and even no effect are noted in some cases) that can be explained by differential impacts across teams.
Mainly, teams that send more players to AFCON rosters are disadvantaged.
Nonetheless, this result loses significance when corrected by players’ abilities and it is not consistent across leagues.
Participation in AFCON seems to increase risk of injury.
The conclusion from this piece of work clearly outlines the fact that it has become commonplace for elite professional football players to represent their respective countries in major international competitions. However, what is unique about African players is that the premier competition – apart from the FIFA World Cup –, the AFCON, occurs during European domestic seasons themselves.
AFCON which removes top African players from European domestic leagues for as long as six weeks during domestic league seasons, causes with each new edition controversies and complaints among UEFAs federations and clubs. It represents a clear conflict of interests and a concerning issue about European football to be addressed.
However, no evidence currently exists neither evaluating the effect of player
absence on football play performance nor estimating the impact of National team’s tournaments on domestic leagues.
In addition, and according to UEFA’s “Eleven values” – “National team and
club football are vital and complementary elements of football. UEFA will remain committed to ensuring that this balance is maintained”
The African Cup of Nations Tournament will kick-off on January 9 at the Olembe Omnisport Stadium in Yaounde-Cameroon, and run for four weeks, across six host venues with 24 National selections to compete in six groups.
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