SAMUEL ETO’O ANGERED AT POSSIBLE DELAY OF AFCON

President of the Cameroon football federation (Facefoot), Samuel Eto’o believes there is no reason as to why the Africa Cup Of Nations should be postpone. The competition is scheduled to be hosted by Cameroon from January 2022, to February 6, 2022, but the organization of the tournament has been faced with challenges and controversy.

Last week, the European Clubs Association (ECA) raised some concerns and expressed its reluctance to release players for the tournament. The ECA has expressed concern on the travel restrictions that present a barrier for players to travel back to Africa in order to represent their respective countries. They are also worried

Eto’o is not pleased about this, saying if the Euro 2020 was played in the wake of a whole pandemic with a full stadium then the AFCON can go on as well.

“I do not see a convincing reason to postpone the Africa Cup of Nations, the Euro was played during the pandemic with full stadiums,” Eto’o said.

“They played in many cities in Europe, so why shouldn’t we play in Cameroon? If some think we should postpone the tournament, they need to give a good reason.”

Ex Togo international player Emmanuel Adebayor also showed his displeasure at the European clubs at their reluctance to release their players for AFCON. Adebayor who once played for Arsenal and Tottenham in the premier league, described the behavior as disgusting.

“There is no coach in the world that can prevent me from playing at the AFCON. It’s disgusting that some persons are trying to prevent the African Players from playing at the AFCON,” he told the BBC Sport.

There have been reports in the last couple of weeks of the possible cancellation of the AFCON but the CAF president Patrice Mostepe has affirmed that the tournament will definitely go on. Africans still do not know at this point as to whether the tournament will take place.