European clubs mount pressure on CAF to cancel 2022 AFCON

By Amaechi Agbo

The 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON slated to commence in Cameroon in less than 25 days may not hold after all as Confederation of Africa Football, CAF is under immense pressure to cancel the 33rd edition of the Africa’s biggest football showpiece. 

According to reports, the CAF has started engaging stakeholders on the way forward as European Club Association, ECA has made it known that clubs in Europe will not release their African players for the competition due to health risks imposed by the new COVID variant, Omicron

While the official decision has not yet been communicated, the reason for the cancellation can be linked with the organizational difficulties related to Covid-19 and its new variant.

The potential cancellation would be good news to many English clubs who have not hidden their discontent with losing important players in the coming weeks.

Liverpool manager, Jurgen Klopp, who recently described the AFCON as “little tournament” could lose as many as four star players should the competition hold as planned. 

African players called up by their respective national teams are expected to observe a quarantine upon their return to the UK, which would force the various clubs to be deprived of their services for a longer period.

The ECA wrote a letter to FIFA/CAF informing them of their unwillingness to release players for the 2021 AFCON.

The competition is scheduled to begin next month in Cameroon having been postponed earlier this year.

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 governmental authorities’ are making it difficult to agree to the request from CAF.

The 2021 AFCON which suffered several postponements last year as a result of Covid-19 and logistics, is expected to commence on January 9, through February 6, 2022 Cameroon.