AFCON Winning Coach Responds To Napoli President After Claiming He Wont Sign African Players

AFCON Winning Coach Responds To Napoli President After Claiming He Wont Sign African Players

Lukman Mumuni
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:08 PM
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  • Senegal coach Aliou Cisse has responded to Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis after saying he will only sign African players under one condition
  • De Laurentiis disclosed he will not sign African players unless they agree not to play in the Africa Cup of Nations
  • Aliou Cisse led Senegal to their first-ever Africa Cup of Nations success in Cameroon earlier this year

Aliou Cisse has challenged Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis to go ahead and not sign African players following his comments about the Africa Cup of Nations.

Aurelio De Laurentiis said he will only sign players from the continent if they agree to waiver the Africa Cup of Nations.

However, 2021 AFCON winning coach responds by stating international football is ahead of club football.

Aliou Cisse, De Laurentiis, Napoli, Senegal
Senegal boss Aliou Cisse has responded Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis over his African players comments. Credit: AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Source: UGC

"A football player can play for 12 teams, say, but will only have one national team," he told BBC Sport Africa.

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"Clubs will never be above our flag and our national teams. And every Senegalese who play in Europe, wherever he will be, if he is competent I will call him to defend the colours of the nation.

"When a Brazilian is needed by his federation, there is no debate. And yet we are five hours away from Europe. In South America, they are 17-18 hours away from Europe - but there is no debate.

"I have a lot of respect for (De Laurentiis) but I challenge them to try to not recruit African players."

Napoli has three African players in their squad, including Nigeria's Victor Osimhen and Cameroon's Zambo Anguissa.

Earlier this week, CAF condemned De Laurentiis' comments, claiming it was 'irresponsible and unacceptable'.

CAF want UEFA to initiate disciplinary action against De Laurentiis

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that the Confederation of African Football, CAF, wants serious disciplinary action taken against Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis for his ‘irresponsible and unacceptable’ comments about African players.

Aurelio De Laurentiis claims his club will not sign African players unless they agreed to sign a deal that prevents them from playing Africa's flagship international competition, the Africa Cup of Nations.

His comments has drawn a response from CAF, who want UEFA to initiate disciplinary action against the Napoli president.

Authors
Lukman Mumuni photo
Lukman Mumuni
Lukman Abdul Mumin is a Sports Journalist based in Accra, Ghana. He has been writing for the past five years. Lukman joined Sports Brief as an Editor for the Local Desk in 2022.
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