Sebastien Haller was furious. In December 2021, the forward — who was playing for Ajax at the time — was asked if he planned on playing at the Africa Cup of Nations the following month.
“This question shows the disrespect for Africa,” Haller said. “Would this question ever get asked to a European player ahead of the Euros? Of course I will go to AFCON to represent Ivory Coast — that is the highest honour.”
Ismaila Sarr was caught in the middle of a row between Watford and Senegal regarding his participation at the same tournament. Watford insisted Sarr was not fit enough to play due to a knee injury, but Senegal’s medical team wanted to make their assessment.
Sarr travelled with the squad to Cameroon and missed their first four matches. He scored in their 3-1 win against Equatorial Guinea in the quarter-finals, set up Sadio Mane in a semi-final victory over Burkina Faso, and started the final. Senegal beat Egypt on penalties and won the competition for the first time.
Senegal’s Sarr celebrates scoring against Equatorial Guinea at the last AFCON (Visionhaus/Getty Images)
Sarr’s team-mate Emmanuel Dennis was not so lucky. Nigeria missed a deadline to notify Watford he was under consideration for selection, which meant they could prevent him from going. On the same day Nigeria beat Sudan 3-1 in the group stages, Dennis started for Watford in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United.
There are long-running tensions between Andre Onana and Samuel Eto’o, the former Barcelona striker who is now the president of Cameroon’s football federation, which can be traced back to a disagreement over tactics at the World Cup in Qatar. Onana retired from international duty afterwards but returned in November to reclaim his position as his country’s first-choice goalkeeper.
Onana reached an agreement with Cameroon that meant he started Manchester United’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford on Sunday and travelled to the Ivory Coast immediately after. Cameroon’s opening game of the tournament against Guinea kicked off less than 23 hours after United’s finished. Despite travelling by private jet, Onana was delayed due to the weather and was left out of Cameroon’s squad for their 1-1 draw.
Would this be allowed to happen at any other major international tournament? Representing your country should be the pinnacle of any player’s career, but for African players, it is not that simple.
Sudan hosted the first edition of AFCON in 1957. The biennial competition tends to take place at the beginning of the calendar year, which means it clashes with the middle of the European domestic season.
Achraf Hakimi will be hoping to help take Morocco to this year’s final on February 11. Paris Saint-Germain, Hakimi’s club, face Real Sociedad three days later in the first leg of their Champions League round-of-16 tie. Mohamed Salah will miss both legs of Liverpool’s Carabao Cup semi-final against Fulham and, if Egypt reach the latter stages, could be unavailable for their league trip to Arsenal on February 4.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) tried to address this problem in 2017 when they agreed to move the tournament to the middle of the year when other international competitions, including the European Championship, Copa America and Gold Cup, traditionally take place. The 2019 edition was held in Egypt in June and July without any problems but, due to the tropical weather season in central and western Africa, Cameroon and then Ivory Coast moved the tournament back to the start of the year.
In an interview with Wall Street Italia in August 2022, Napoli’s owner, Aurelio De Laurentiis, said: “Guys, don’t talk to me about the Africans anymore. I love them, but either they sign a waiver and pull out of playing in the AFCON, otherwise, between the AFCON and the Copa America (players), they are never available. We are the suckers who pay their wages.”
The former Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly criticised De Laurentiis’ comments. “You cannot speak about an African national team like this,” Senegal’s captain said. “You have to have respect like you have for the other national teams. If somebody tells me not to go there, it’s the only time I will fight with somebody.”
Sol Bamba made nearly 50 appearances for Ivory Coast, including the 2012 AFCON final they lost on penalties to Zambia. “What most clubs and managers don’t understand is what it means to us and until they do, it’s going to be a problem,” he tells The Athletic. “They don’t see it as important. When I was growing up, there weren’t a lot of African teams in the World Cup so I couldn’t connect with it. It was all about AFCON.
Bamba playing for Ivory Coast at AFCON in 2012 (Alexander Joe/AFP via Getty Images)
“I would miss school to watch the games. Ivory Coast won in 1992 and I remember watching it with my dad. There is a big Ivorian community in France and the way we celebrated it was like we were in Abidjan.”
Bamba, who started his career with PSG and had spells at clubs in England, Wales, Scotland, Italy and Turkey, can recall having conversations about missing the tournament.
“I never gave any manager or my club the chance to stop me going,” the 38-year-old says. “I made that very clear from minute one — my country is everything. So if you have any plans for me to not go to games, even friendlies, I won’t sign for you. They always say the right thing when they want you to sign and after they will try to pressure you. At times I would go late and they would try to squeeze every game they could.
“At Leicester (City) when I left for AFCON (in 2012) they said, ‘You are in the starting XI now, but when you come back, that might not be the case’. I was playing in the Championship and I thought it was only happening to us, not players in the top flight. But I remember having a conversation with (Didier) Drogba, Kolo and Yaya (Toure) and it was the same with them. It is difficult to take. You see another player going to play for France or Italy and it’s not a problem. You feel let down.”
Sebastien Bassong represented France at youth level before he switched to Cameroon. The former Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United and Norwich City defender never appeared at AFCON, but he was capped nearly 20 times and played at the 2010 World Cup. Bassong was asked to skip international duty on multiple occasions and believes the way African players are treated compared to their counterparts is “totally different”.
“People are clever, they ask you in a different way so they don’t get a backlash,” Bassong tells The Athletic. “‘Is the game that important? Are you sure you have to go? Would you come back early? Are you sure you will be ready for our game?’
“I said to them a few times, ‘You never ask an English, Spanish or French player if he has to go. Why would you ask me?’. You don’t ask Brazilian or Argentinian players because it sounds better than saying you play for Lesotho, Gambia or Mali. African players have got to work harder to gain respect and that’s the reality.
“Clubs shouldn’t even ask you to prioritise them over your country because you don’t choose between your mum and your dad. I’m representing my nation. You can change clubs but you don’t change countries.”
Bassong playing for Cameroon against Denmark at the 2010 World Cup (Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
Radhi Jaidi, of Tunisia, spent the first 11 years of his career playing for Esperance in his home country before he joined Bolton Wanderers in 2004. Jaidi was a crucial figure for them in defence and they were reluctant to lose him for a few weeks.
“Sam Allardyce asked me to consider international retirement,” the former Southampton academy coach, who is now assistant at Belgian side Cercle Bruges, says. “When I joined Bolton I was 28 and during the 2005-06 season, I had a couple of injuries which triggered the conversation. By reducing the amount of games, I could extend my career, but this was impossible for me. I was one of the senior players and ended up with 105 caps. It was a pleasure to represent my country and it’s difficult for a player to give up on that.
“Allardyce came up with a great idea, though, as he sent a group of staff, including a doctor and masseuse, to look after the Bolton players at the (2006) tournament (in Egypt). They spent a couple of days in Ismailia with the Nigerian team looking after Jay-Jay Okocha and visited Senegal and Tunisia’s camps, too. They helped out and supported us with medical needs and recovery products like protein shakes. It meant when the tournament finished, we came back fit and didn’t waste any time recovering. Bolton adapted to the situation and I will do the same as a head coach.”
Albert Adomah represented Ghana at the 2013 edition in South Africa. He was playing for Bristol City in the Championship and they were fighting to avoid relegation. “There was no pressure,” the 36-year-old, who now plays for Queens Park Rangers, tells The Athletic. “I was trying to represent my motherland and Bristol City understood that clearly.
“Before I headed off to AFCON, I knew it was a tough situation because we had to go on an amazing run to survive. Everyone sort of knew it was going to happen. It is one of the lowest points in my career getting relegated.
“But it was the proudest moment when I got selected. It was unfortunate that Andre Ayew, our star player, got injured, but I started all of the group games. I left at the beginning of January and was gone for six weeks because we reached the semi-finals.”
While Adomah was away, Bristol City sacked manager Derek McInnes and replaced him with Sean O’Driscoll. Adomah was the club’s second-highest scorer that season but there was no place for him in the starting XI when he returned.
“That’s what happens when you get a new manager, everyone’s trying to impress and it’s an opportunity for other players to step up,” he says. “The team went on a good run and the manager said, ‘I can’t just put you in the team’. It was a strange situation.”
The worst-case scenario happened to Kelechi Nwakali in 2022. Nwakali captained Nigeria to glory at the Under-17 World Cup in 2015 and won the Golden Ball award ahead of team-mate Victor Osimhen. Other players who have lifted that accolade include Toni Kroos, Phil Foden and Cesc Fabregas.
Within a year, Arsenal signed Nwakali, but he never made a first-team appearance due to work permit issues. In September 2019, he joined Spanish side Huesca and, after a loan spell at Alcorcon, broke into their first-team squad during the 2021-22 season. Nwakali made 19 appearances for Huesca in Spain’s second division before he went to AFCON with Nigeria. He never played for them again and on April 5 they terminated his contract.
Within 24 hours, Nwakali released a statement on social media alleging Huesca’s sporting director Ruben Garcia “put extreme pressure on me not to go to AFCON due to it ‘not being an important tournament’.
“He told me that if I go to AFCON I will not play for Huesca again. This behaviour and the lack of respect shown to my country Nigeria was truly heartbreaking and it was just the latest example of the club attempting to bully me into getting their own way.”
OFFICIAL STATEMENT pic.twitter.com/2vDZ2Lv5TY
— Nwakali25 (@nwakali25) April 6, 2022
Nwakali also alleged the club paid his wages late on multiple occasions and banned him from training. Huesca released a statement in response, saying “the club wants to show its total rejection towards the lack of truth in these (comments), all with the total conviction that the club has acted in every moment with maximum respect towards the player”.
Nwakali is challenging his dismissal at Spanish labour courts on the grounds of unfair dismissal and violation of his labour rights. The AFE (Spanish Players’ Union) are representing him and when contacted by The Athletic said they are still waiting for a trial date.
A few months after leaving Huesca, he moved to Ponferradina and is now at Chaves in Portugal’s top flight. Errol Olowu is an agent who facilitated Kelechi Iheanacho’s move from Manchester City to Leicester City and counts Nwakali as a client. He believes the incident with Huesca “stalled” the midfielder’s career.
“He went to war with his club,” Olowu tells The Athletic. “Huesca told him not to go and that if he did he would not play for them again. Clubs now think he is a troublesome player.
Nwakali on the ball for Nigeria at AFCON in 2022 (Daniel Beloumou Olomo/AFP via Getty Images)
“I understand clubs pay a lot of money for these players and lose them to a tournament at a sensitive time in the league, but AFCON is just six weeks every two years which is nothing. That is a problem for the clubs and why they need to have depth in their squad.”
Nwakali has not represented Nigeria since a 2-0 victory over Guinea-Bissau in the group stages at the last tournament. The 25-year-old’s form for Chaves this season was enough to be included in Jose Peseiro’s provisional squad for this edition, but he was cut from the final 27-man squad.
“Some players are not interested in going to AFCON,” Olowu says. “The ones that are successful can go, but young players get scared and think, ‘My club is going to be angry with me’ and that they are going to lose their position in the team.
“You want the best players to be at AFCON and it’s not right if they’re feeling that pressure. They don’t know where they stand. In Africa, the fans are passionate and crazy. They are threatening them, ‘If you don’t want to play for your country, don’t come back to Africa’. Clubs in Europe have to respect that these players have to represent their country and AFCON is part of the calendar.”
Respect is a word that crops up in all of The Athletic’s conversations about this issue. Bassong believes people need to be “educated” on the importance of AFCON.
“The world is evolving and Africa is moving forward,” Bassong says. “People need to respect AFCON and understand it is not the same as the Euros or the World Cup.
“What makes AFCON special is the environment and the party atmosphere. When you gather all the African teams together, there’s rivalry, camaraderie and friendship. That’s what people don’t want to miss. We have got to show people the beauty of the African game.”
(Top photo: Charly Triballeau/AFP via Getty Images)
Source link : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5158630/2024/01/16/players-being-pressured-to-miss-afcon/
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Publish date : 2024-01-16 08:00:00
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