Drama as Premier League Club Watford Accused of Withholding Another AFCON-Bound Player

• Watford have once again been accused of withholding a player from representing his country in the Africa Cup of Nations
• Senegal claim the Premier League club blocked Sarr’s attempt to rejoin the national team
• Sarr has been recovering from a knee ligament injury and Watford insists he is still injure

Premier League outfit Watford are on the spot once again as they stand accused of blocking attacker Ismaila Sarr from going to represent his country in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Sarr has been out of football action since November 2021 with knee ligament damage.

Regardless, the talented 23-year old was still named in the Senegal’s squad to play in the tournament which is set to kick off on January 9.

Senegal released a statement recently claiming Watford had blocked Sarr’s attempt to join his national team, despite the midfielder saying he would love to represent his country.

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"The FSF wishes to express its deep condemnation of the disrespectful, pernicious and discriminatory behaviour of Watford who seek by all means to prevent a player from playing with his national team.” The statement read as quoted by BBC.

"Africa, its football and its footballers deserve the same respect as that accorded to other continents, confederations and players."

Watford hit back

But Watford did not hold back in their response, as they hit back at Senegal’s accusations, with a detailed account on their side of things.

"In early December, the club wrote to the Senegal Football Federation outlining the clinical diagnosis of Ismaila's injury and immediately followed that up by supplying the MRI scans detailing the extent of the injury,” the club started.

"After further consultation with medical experts, we informed the Federation of Ismaila's rehabilitation process and likely timeframe of recovery.”

The relegation-threatened club goes on to say that Sarr was on a “strict recovery schedule” and asked Senegal to come with their own surgeon to ascertain their diagnosis and rehabilitation period.

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“Baring fangs”

The latest back and forth about a crucial player in the Africa Cup of Nations comes after Nigeria also accused Watford of “baring fangs” after it emerged the club had objected Emmanuel Dennis from being named in the squad.

It has since been confirmed that Dennis, Watford’s top scorer, would not be representing Nigeria in the upcoming African football spectacle.