Omicron: Amid pressure, CAF insists on AFCON 2021, debunks canceling tournament

African’s football governing body, CAF has ruled out reports of decision made to cancel the 33^rd edition of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) billed for Cameroun in January, 2022.

Reports had emerged, Wednesday, claiming that the football governing body was set to cancel the tournament following the spread of the Omicron variant of the Coronavirus disease on the continent.

Counterpart football organizations, especially in Europe had also weighed in on CAF to shelf the competition in view of the health risks it poses to players who have contracts with their European clubs.

However, Confederation of African Football has dispelled such reports even as it further maintained its resolve to see the competition commence in Cameroon in January as planned.

The twice rescheduled AFCON 2021, billed to run from January 9 to February 6, 2022 is also planned to be the biggest in its history.

For the first time, 24 teams will participate in the finals with the Super Eagles, who recently replaced head coach Gernot Rohr with Augustine Eguavoen, chasing a fourth title. The Nigerian national team won the championship in 1980, 1994, and 2013.

CAF has been under immense pressure to cancel the Afcon, with the European Club Association recently threatening to block the release of their players to join up with the respective national squads.

The spread of the Omicron variant of Covid across Africa is equally a significant concern.

CAF’s General Secretary Veron Mosengo-Omba who is currently in Cameroon, insists the singular focus is to ensure a successful AFCON.

“There is a lot of work that is being done,” Mosengo-Omba told Cafonline.

“We have to continue with the same momentum. We cannot rest. We have to work around the clock. I’m not resting; the LOC cannot rest. CAF cannot rest. Everyone must join the efforts.

“We want to see a great TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations here in Cameroon in January next year.”

European clubs will be the hardest hit with the commencement of the competition as clubsides like Leicester City, Watford FC, Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City will be heavily depleted with the exodus of African stars for the tournament.

While strugglers, Watford will suffer the biggest contingent in terms of departures, title contenders, Liverpool will incur loss of the most important members of its squad, as the English Premier League clubs brace up for the kick-off of the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) come January 9, 2022.

Only four top-flight clubs are in line to be unaffected by tournament that kicks off in Cameroon on 9 January

Leeds, Norwich, Newcastle and Tottenham are the only Premier League clubs who will not be affected, with the rest potentially without key players for up to six Premier League matches and two in the FA Cup. With Liverpool in line to be missing Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mané and Naby Keïta for a run of fixtures that includes trips to Chelsea and Arsenal, no wonder Klopp was so opposed to the switch.

He will remember what happened the last time the Cup of Nations was held mid-season. Liverpool were second to the eventual champions Chelsea at the turn of the year in 2016-17 but they failed to win either of their Premier League fixtures, lost in the semi-final of the League Cup to Southampton and were knocked out of the FA Cup by the Championship leaders Wolves. Mané missed only two Premier League matches after being flown back on a private jet just in time to face Chelsea hours after missing the penalty that had eliminated Senegal in a quarter-final shootout against Cameroon.

Fifa regulations stipulate that players must be released by their clubs on 27 December – 13 days before the tournament’s first match. That means Salah, Mané and Keïta could play in Liverpool’s Premier League game against Leeds on Boxing Day but would not be available for the trip to Leicester two days later. However, there is a possibility that some could be given dispensation to join up with their national squads at a later date depending on what can be agreed with their clubs.

Discussions are believed to be ongoing, with Chelsea wanting Édouard Mendy and Hakim Ziyech to face Liverpool at Stamford Bridge on 2 January before joining up with Senegal and Morocco respectively. Klopp will hope he can persuade the Egyptian FA to allow Salah to arrive as late as possible.

Ndidi and his clubmate Kelechi Iheanacho are among seven Nigerians – more than any other nation – who could be called up from English clubs by the long-serving German manager Gernot Rohr, who is seeking to build on third place last time. Watford have three Super Eagles in Peter Etebo, William Troost-Ekong and Emmanuel Dennis, and are also facing the prospect of losing Senegal’s Ismaïla Sarr and Adam Masina of Morocco for a crucial period that includes league fixtures against fellow strugglers Norwich and Newcastle.

Crystal Palace supporters’ hopes that Zaha’s request not to be selected for Ivory Coast’s World Cup qualifiers this month could mean he is available to Patrick Vieira in January were dashed when the 29-year-old clarified his intentions to take part in Afcon, although his country’s defeat by Cameroon in his absence means the Elephants will not be in Qatar next year. Vieira is also likely to be without Cheikhou Kouyaté, and Jordan Ayew, and his Arsenal counterpart Mikel Arteta will not be able to call on Aubameyang Jeffrey Schlupp, Thomas Partey, Mohamed Elneny or Nicolas Pépé.

Riyad Mahrez’s departure to play for Algeria may not be keenly felt by Manchester City given he has started only twice in the Premier League. Mahrez led Algeria to victory at the last tournament in Egypt and was a key component of the City team that won the title last season. In this campaign he has been a regular in the Champions League.

With that tournament’s knockout stages due to begin on 15 February, nine days after the Afcon final, at least he and West Ham’s Saïd Benrahma will definitely be back to what could by then be a very different-looking Premier League table.