FEATURE: The Gross Disrespect to the Most Prestigious Football Competition on our African Continent.
African Cup Of Nations(AFCON), the most prestigious competition that any African player dreams of competing in for his country have in recent times been disdained. From comments by European coaches, and even the decision by FIFA to synchronize the Club World Cup with the AFCON just reiterates my point. The English Premier League is set to break, just to make way for the World Cup in Qatar which will be held in November, an odd period from the usual. Why then was the same respect not given to AFCON by FIFA when deciding on the period to organize the Club World Cup after the coincidences by Japan?
Is our AFCON not commercially viable enough? Did FIFA not think about African players who will take part in the Club World Cup and also be scheduled to represent their countries in the AFCON? It is a known fact that occasionally, some European clubs feign injuries for their African players when they’re set to lose for African competitions like the AFCON. This has robbed some African nations of their best-performing players.
Over the years these well-to-do have always tricked African countries of their best performing players by injury brouhaha and playtime schedules which violates FIFA rules concerning player ownership. This will breed further grounds to deny some African nations of their best performing players.
At competitions like the AFCON, these same “BIG EUROPEAN STARS” are the players expected to sell the AFCON brand.
WHO THEN IS TO BE BLAMED?
Today marks exactly 58 years since the first edition of AFCON was played. Comparing recent AFCON competitions to competitions of the past, we seem to be on the decline. Yet still, the leaders of the biggest football governing body of our continent, the Confederation of African Football CAF, are yet to critically consider this.
Football evolves and we must also adjust to fine-tune with the new trends. Unlike the World Cup which has always been held in June and July since its inception, outside the European club football calendar, the AFCON is yet to find an appropriate period to be held.
In conclusion, until our football leaders come together to make effective use of some of the rules to build a strong brand, FIFA and other foreign individuals will continue to show gross disrespect to us overlooking the impact of African players.
BY MAXWELL OKUMASI
