At a news conference after emerging as the president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Patrice Motsepe was adamant about retaining the current format of the continent’s flagship football tournament, the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).
“The AFCON will take place every two years, African football needs it,” Motsepe said at a news conference in Johannesburg on March 16.
“This is one area where there were different views. I’ve no doubt that where we are now‚ it has to be every two years; there’s no doubt about that,” he added.
The new CAF president was responding to growing calls, especially from FIFA and European football clubs, for AFCON to become a quadrennial rather than a biennial event.
In 2020, during a football conference in Salé, Morocco, FIFA president Gianni Infantino, reiterated his call for AFCON to be staged every four years for the tournament to better serve the continent.
Issues around both the timing and frequency of AFCON have been a hot debate among football stakeholders over the years.
In 2017, CAF, while Ahmad Ahmad was president, yielded partially to the agitation of European football clubs when it moved the tournament from January to European summer.
The decision was to ease the release of African footballers playing in European clubs for the tournament during European leagues’ off-season.
However, CAF has reverted to from January to February date for the 2021 edition of AFCON to be hosted by Cameroon in 2022.
The continental football body said it reached an agreement to hold AFCON 2021 between January and February to avoid the torrential rain common in Cameroon in the middle of the year.
It is easy to see where Motsepe, a South African mining billionaire, is coming from.
With AFCON being CAF’s most lucrative event in terms of sponsorship and income generation, the fear of losing the biennial momentum of the tournament is palpable.
AFCON benefits immensely from exhibiting its Europe-based best players every two years and their availability is at the heart of the excitement and sponsorship the tournament attracts.
However, Giovanni Infantino, the current president of FIFA, argued that revenue from AFCON could rise up six times if the tournament was held every four years to become a must-see event “not only for Africa but the world”.
But, for European clubs who cough wages and bonuses, the debate around when and how often AFCON is staged has more to do with personnel than revenue.
European clubs’ are often furious when they have to release their African stars mid-season for AFCON.
A club already depleted with injuries, having to release players for an international tournament in the middle of the season, risks further injury worries and fatigue.
Sports enthusiasts say this is a legitimate concern.
In 2015, the European Club Association published a study of how AFCON affects European club football.
According to the report, 67 per cent of AFCON stars play in Europe, with French Ligue 1 releasing the highest number of players.
Spanish La Liga and the English Premier League were second and third worst-hit European leagues respectively.
Former Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger, who had a sizeable African contingent on his team, was known to delay players from reporting for national team assignments.
“I think everybody will be allowed to delay player departures because they don’t need to work on fitness.
“For years now, we have asked them to organise this cup at least every four years and during the summer. But it’s still every two years and during the winter. I don’t know why,” he complained.
French clubs, which have the most African footballers on their payrolls, recently took a unanimous decision to restrict players from travelling for international duties outside of Europe.
Although the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) cited safety against COVID-19 pandemic, many back in the continent view the decision as a deliberate action to deny African countries of their key players.
Like many other African countries, the decision affected Nigeria, which head coach, Gernot Rohr, had to replace Nantes winger Moses Simon with Genk striker Paul Onuachu for the next rounds of AFCON qualifiers.
Whether CAF is being driven by profit or European clubs are pushing a selfish agenda, players’ interests should inform the pursuit of an amicable solution to situation.
Torn between allegiance to club and country, it is African footballers playing in Europe who bear the brunt in the politics of national assignment, many of who lose their places in their clubs upon return from AFCON.
There is also a general reluctance by European club managers to sign high-profile African players in the transfer window, knowing that they may not be immediately available in an AFCON year.
Interestingly, a 2015 report indicated that over 4,500 African footballers had gone out to play outside their chores. Protecting their interests has a ramification for football development both home and abroad.
No doubt, the last has not been heard about the debate of whether CAF should continue AFCON in its current format or to tweak it in response to FIFA and European clubs’ agitation.
While European clubs should not deprive Africa of its best football stars for the much-anticipated biennial continental showpiece, CAF, too, should be open to changes which will protect the players’ interests.(NANFeatures)