Topic: African Cup of Nations (AFCON)

[kavah]

Why is that?

Why not? - Like Australia playing in the Copa?

[deFacto please, you bastards]

''We wont selll Sadio,Mo or Naby because of this, obviously not, but to bring any new players in from Africa, we have to consider that they will be unavailable for 4 weeks'' Klopp

[Hazell]

''We wont selll Sadio,Mo or Naby because of this, obviously not, but to bring any new players in from Africa, we have to consider that they will be unavailable for 4 weeks'' Klopp

Yeah, not surprising. If big clubs are less likely to buy African players becuase they'll lose them mid-season, it may well cause a serious rethink from the competition organisers.

[Romford_Red]

Solve what problem exactly?

Wales
Golf
Sorting out AFCON
Madrid

In that order

[Caston]

Klopp clearly not happy about this in the presser today.

[classycarra]

Klopp clearly not happy about this in the presser today.

Understandably. And he's not being cynical about it, just showing compassion for the players. Being run into the ground to make a few rich c*nts richer. The competition is already an absolute shitshow. Having it so widely participated in and every two years is as cynical as it gets

Good footballers really need to take a collective stand - the balance of power is all wrong with international football

[Dim Glas]

Kloppo:
For us it’s a catastrophe.
If we say he can’t go, he’s suspended. How can the club who pay his salary not decide.
If he’s injured and we say he cannot play for us, we have to send him to Africa so they can have a look.
We don’t have any say. We just plan the route.
These are all things that should not be like this.
I speak about it now and no-one will listen.
The moaner from Liverpool again. It’s a complete waste of time.
As long as nothing changes, I will keep saying it.
It’s about the players, not me.

Love the 'moaner from Liverpool' line! Cos it's so true, the pricks in the media in England, and the angry fans of other clubs will say exactly that, even though he is 100% right.

[RedForeverTT]

Stupid corrupted organisation.

The only confederation I know that runs the international tournament every 2 years instead of the usual 4 and it involves everyone!

They have no player’s welfare in mind. All they want is to line their pockets.

Hope our African players just retire from international football.

[RedForeverTT]

Stupid corrupted organisation.

The only confederation I know that runs the international tournament every 2 years instead of the usual 4 and it involves everyone!

They have no player’s welfare in mind. All they want is to line their pockets.

Hope our African players just retire from international football.

[Andy-oh-six]

Enjoy the league win this season because we won’t repeat it next year.

[tornado]

If the PL league winter break comes forward a little bit, then the impact is some what mitigated.

With current set up, club can arrange with countries to release players after the 1st PL match in January. There is  a FA came after that and if the PL break can be after the PL on the following weekend, that would help.

[IanZG]

Enjoy the league win this season because we won’t repeat it next year.

Might as well liquidate the club after this season, what's the point of even competing.

[Something Worse]

Enjoy the league win this season because we won’t repeat it next year.

 

[Schmidt]

More and more organisations are realising they can just do whatever the fuck they want to make money and not only can clubs do nothing about it, but anyone who complains will just get ignored with the usual "you get paid millions to kick a ball about" logic.

[farawayred]

The thing is that this policy will backfire in due course. Many African players Now move to Europe with their families and they’ll get better options to succeed. They will get dual nationality and The best ones will have to chose who to represent on international level, their home country or their host country. Considering that the best clubs will also prefer non-African players of same quality so they don’t lose them in the middle of a season, the players might be influenced to chose accordingly. That’s a viciously circle, and the African teams will lose top players that would otherwise represent them. And as Klopp said it, it’s worst for the players - if you are an African player, you have to be significantly better than your peers to play for a top club, equal is not enough...

[Linudden]

The thing is that this policy will backfire in due course. Many African players Now move to Europe with their families and they’ll get better options to succeed. They will get dual nationality and The best ones will have to chose who to represent on international level, their home country or their host country. Considering that the best clubs will also prefer non-African players of same quality so they don’t lose them in the middle of a season, the players might be influenced to chose accordingly. That’s a viciously circle, and the African teams will lose top players that would otherwise represent them. And as Klopp said it, it’s worst for the players - if you are an African player, you have to be significantly better than your peers to play for a top club, equal is not enough...

True. Even on Football Manager, I've always made sure that if I have African players in my squads - they are XI players, preferrably star players and always pray that dual French-African nationals get picked for France. Most players of African nationality I've had were dual French nationals and played for France. In real life, that urge could be even stronger especially as the club money get more lucrative and therefore the stakes higher for players who come from poor backgrounds.

[Mister Flip Flop]

Jesus if like i didn't hate international football enough already. 

Think we reaching a breaking point for clubs when it comes to international football anyway. Players now are massive financial assets i can't see them putting up with it much longer.

[#RedDawn2020]

Shite.

No offense to African football in general, but having watched some AFCON matches this summer I have to say this is, from a sporting perspective, one of the most useless tournaments in current football. Aside from the initial excitement to watch a game such as Sambia vs Madagascar, I can not recommend watching a single game of this tournament and having it every two years doesn’t do it any favors. Aside of one or two outstanding players in the best teams, the majority Of players is not even Championship level. Don’t watch this, watch that (literally anything else).

I appreciate how important it is politically and socio-culturally for the most impoverished nations in Africa to see Sadio, and Kalidou, and Naby, and Mo and Rihad and so on performing and in some way giving back. I am not sure there is  lot of money in that competition either.

And every two years? That’s FIFA politics for you. I am sure FIFAs approval was given and the agreement will ensure Infantinos reign for the next couple of years.

[Linudden]

Jesus if like i didn't hate international football enough already. 

Think we reaching a breaking point for clubs when it comes to international football anyway. Players now are massive financial assets i can't see them putting up with it much longer.

I'm strongly considering boycotting the Qatar farce altogether even if Sweden's in it. International football is naturally biased to the large populaces anyway, so what's in it for me as a Swede regardless? Yeah, I know Sweden is really successful per capita but at the same time, the sky would have to fall down for them to win anything and they can't even put a Nordic Championship together so it's just... a massive meh. Not to mention, I don't like the government either and the national teams' successes are just used as PR for them.

Croatia being blatantly cheated in the final really drew down the curtain on international football for me. A World Cup win for either Belgium or Croatia, could've saved the tournaments' appeal, but instead it just felt bland.

The European Championship is a lot more unpredictable and fun I guess (Denmark, Greece and Portugal), but even it has been ruined by a pointless expansion.

[#RedDawn2020]

The European Championship is a lot more unpredictable and fun I guess (Denmark, Greece and Portugal), but even it has been ruined by a pointless expansion.

Spot on. Used to be my favorite international competition. Short and sweet and full of surprises with a large number of high quality games with a total of 16 teams. In particular 96-08 saw a lot of nice games , the occasional shock for Germany or England and some worthy winners. The expanded competitions by FIFA and UEFA are just watering down the quality , resulting in an overall meh experience.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

I'm strongly considering boycotting the Qatar farce altogether even if Sweden's in it. International football is naturally biased to the large populaces anyway, so what's in it for me as a Swede regardless? Yeah, I know Sweden is really successful per capita but at the same time, the sky would have to fall down for them to win anything and they can't even put a Nordic Championship together so it's just... a massive meh. Not to mention, I don't like the government either and the national teams' successes are just used as PR for them.

Croatia being blatantly cheated in the final really drew down the curtain on international football for me. A World Cup win for either Belgium or Croatia, could've saved the tournaments' appeal, but instead it just felt bland.

The European Championship is a lot more unpredictable and fun I guess (Denmark, Greece and Portugal), but even it has been ruined by a pointless expansion.

I refuse to go to that part of the world.

[4pool]

It's not just AFCON's fault.

FIFA are planning their new expanded version of the Club World Cup that same summer.

So players like Mane, Keita, and Salah will finish the League season. Then have to be ready for the CWC. And after that AFCON.

By moving AFCON at least our African players should get some rest during the summer.

[WhereAngelsPlay]

It's not just AFCON's fault.

FIFA are planning their new expanded version of the Club World Cup that same summer.

So players like Mane, Keita, and Salah will finish the League season. Then have to be ready for the CWC. And after that AFCON.

By moving AFCON at least our African players should get some rest during the summer.

It fucking is,every 2yrs is pure bollocks.

[IanZG]

FIFA are planning their new expanded version of the Club World Cup that same summer.

I genuinely feel we should boycott this.

[Linudden]

I genuinely feel we should boycott this.

I heard Woodward and United had been insisting that the ECA clubs will boycott the new World Cup because it's placed during the off-season and contains too many games. Hopefully it's true, so the tournament never even gets off the ground.

[CHOPPER]

Can we not just ban Africa and the other less well off federations and just use their players when we want?

[Linudden]

Enjoy the league win this season because we won’t repeat it next year.

It will force us to go into the market and sign another attacker. Werner's low buyout clause of around 30 million euros, mind?

[Robinred]

Yes, it’s getting ridiculous.

The levels of self-interest and corruption are such that the clubs must surely, and inevitably, get together and create some sort of ultimatum.

International football as it stands, is as guilty as any other organisation of putting money first and players’ welfare a poor second. Some International organisations have been guilty of sending players back to their clubs - particularly “key” players - crocked. It’s entirely evident why, the temptation to pursue glory over welfare is too great.

[Linudden]

Yes, it’s getting ridiculous.

The levels of self-interest and corruption are such that the clubs must surely, and inevitably, get together and create some sort of ultimatum.

International football as it stands, is as guilty as any other organisation of putting money first and players’ welfare a poor second. Some International organisations have been guilty of sending players back to their clubs - particularly “key” players - crocked. It’s entirely evident why, the temptation to pursue glory over welfare is too great.

In reality, it should be quite easy. The Premier League clubs demanding that the FA refuse to suspend any players the clubs withdraw from international duty to Afcon. What are the FA supposed to do then if every single club write to them? They all have an interest in being able to utilize African players.

[King Kenny 7]

Thankfully its been switched to 2022.


"After a meeting on Tuesday afternoon, the Confederation of African Football has made the decision to move the upcoming Afcon to January 2022.

This decision follows UEFA's decision to move the 2020 European Championship to next year, and CONMEBOL's decision to delay the 2020 Copa America to 2021 too."

[ScouserAtHeart]

[deFacto please, you bastards]

Hallelujah

[Morgana]

World Cup and Afcon in the same year will be  a huge pain in the arse for the African players and the fitness personnel the club though. We will have to let them off league games for 3 to 4 months. Otherwise the burnout will be epic. 

[CraigDS]

World Cup and Afcon in the same year will be  a huge pain in the arse for the African players and the fitness personnel the club though. We will have to let them off league games for 3 to 4 months. Otherwise the burnout will be epic.

3-4 months? Don’t be hyperbolic.

[JackWard33]

[El Lobo]

World Cup and Afcon in the same year will be  a huge pain in the arse for the African players and the fitness personnel the club though. We will have to let them off league games for 3 to 4 months. Otherwise the burnout will be epic.

Exactly.

It’s just an extra problem for the season after though. Considering we’ll probably be without Salah, Mané and Naby for 6-9 months because of the AFCON.

[Knight]

That's massive for us. Absolutely huge. 2022 will be crazy for Mane and Salah (assuming their respective countries qualify for the world cup finals) but we've got a year to plan for that.

[Elzar]

Good for the immediate future, as less pressure of bring in replacements, but losing our 3 African players for a full year at the AFCON the next season will be terrible.

[Caligula?]

So the "they'll be fucked without Mane and Salah, they can't repeat it again next season" etc, etc celebrations from other clubs have been put on hold?

[El Lobo]

We’re gonna be extra fucked when Firmino and Alisson go on their 18 month hiatus for the Copa America. No wonder we don’t want Coutinho back.