Johannesburg – The decision by some European clubs not to release players, the majority being Africans, for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers is absurd, to put it mildly.
It is a move that blatantly undermines African football as most players from this continent ply their trade in Europe.
Fifa’s international window normally allows players to return to their home countries for two games but the pandemic has left Fifa with a compressed window period to complete qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup, which will open in Qatar next November.
With England in the forefront of barring players in the Premier League from representing their countries if they are on the Covid-19 so-called red-list, world football governing body Fifa has no option but to put its foot down and insist the selected players be released. Last month, Percy Tau was barred by his former English team, Albion Brighton & Hove, from representing Team South Africa at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Starved of game time, the star player has since moved to Egypt, where he rejoined his former mentor at Mamelodi Sundowns, coach Pitso Mosimane, at Al Alhy.
Why can’t a similar approach to that adopted by England during the Euro 2020, whereby vaccinated players were exempted from quarantining be implemented?
And when that was done, the sky did not fall.
The European clubs, more so the English, argue that forcing clubs to release players and then quarantine them on their return, sometimes for as long as 10 days, creates a situation that affects the league fixtures and impact on players’ fitness.
Imagine the qualifiers without African football’s household names, top players such as Egypt’s Mo Salah of Liverpool, teammate Sadio Mane of Senegal, and Arsenal’s Mohamed Elney also of Egypt. Absent will be Ghana’s Jordan Ayew of Crystal Palace, Leicester City Daniel Amartey and Mohammed Salisu of Southampton out of Ghana’s showdown in Joburg against Bafana Bafana on Friday. Zimbabwe without Marvelous Nakamba of Aston Villa when we play them away on Wednesday.
Just think of Nigeria having Alex Iwobi of Everton as well as Kelechi Iheanacho and Wilfred Ndidi, both Leicester City players missing in action as they prepare to face Cape Verde on Friday? Cote d’Ivoire not having Manchester United’s Eric Bailly, Amad Diallo and Arsenal’s Nicolas Pepe when they meet Mozambique on Wednesday.
Mali not having Brighton’s Yves Bissouma when they take on Uganda on Friday and Zambia missing Everton’s Patson Daka and Enock Mwepu of Brighton for the qualifiers for a berth in Qatar 2022.
The list is endless. The British government is so brutal it has threatened those who dare return after honouring their national duty with strict quarantine conditions or outright exclusion from England as they step out of the plane.
The bottom line is that the decision is a brazen rejection of protocol and unless it is quickly reversed, sets up a significant confrontation between the European clubs, the English in particular, with CAF and Fifa. Now is the time for South African-born CAF president Patrice Motsepe to stand up and be counted. It is time for Motsepe to fight for the rights of African footballers to represent their respective nations in the world football spectacle qualifiers without prejudice.
African football leaders, including Motsepe as the head honcho, should hang their heads in shame if they can’t fight for their players.
They must take charge and prevent the shenanigans that have in the past badly affected the image of African football.
In a nutshell, African football bosses must prove to Europe that we are as important in world football as any other confederation. We’ve had enough of stories of African players being subjected to racism and Fifa failing to fight the scourge. All I can say is, enough is enough.
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