AFCON: European Clubs Refuse to Release African Players for Next Month's Showpiece
FootballAFCON will not be cancelled - CAF insists, labels rumor-mongering "lies"
- CAF has buckled up for the final preparations with just under four weeks left for the 2021 AFCON to commence
- The African equivalent of the UEFA European Championship, which was held mid-2021, has gotten a lot of push back from European clubs
- The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has labelled all news of the cancellation of the AFCON from Europe as "lies" and "fake news"
The Confederation of African (CAF) has labeled news coming from Europe, suggesting the January 2022 AFCON tournament will be cancelled as "lies" and "fake news".
With the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) just a few weeks away from commencement, CAF has reiterated that the tournament will go as planned.
Earlier the same day, December 15, news broke of the European Clubs Association's (ECA) decision to not release African players for the AFCON.
Head of Media Relations and Operations, Lux September, hours after the news from the ECA and news of cancelation of the tournament from Europe, took to his social media to speak on the matter.
Mr Lux September tweeted quoting a tweet of Mail Online reporting that heads of CAF were discussing cancellation of the tournament;
"Of course these are LIES….. There has not been a single meeting where this was discussed. But we all know the source of misinformation from some “lobby” groups. They always undermine Africa…. We know them", the tweet said.
Before this, Mr September had had his say on similar tweet from another outlet, Get French Football News (GFFN) reporting an RMC news that said CAF heads were in a meeting over AFCON termination.
"Fake News !!!! (Police cars revolving light emoji) But Facts Are boring!", he tweeted.
European Clubs refuse to release players for AFCON
This comes on the back of European clubs having said they will not release their African players to their national teams for the 2021 African Cup of Nations tournament in January 2022.
The association body of European clubs, ECA, said the decision was reached in reaction to " three fundamental concerns for clubs when it comes to the release of players to national teams".
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Not the first time CAF addresses AFCON rumor
In an earlier publication, YEN.com.gh reported that the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has rubbished rumors of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) being postponed from next month to a much later time.
The rumors also had it that, host nation of the 24-team tournament, Cameroon might be losing their hosting privileges to a foreign country on another continent like Qatar.