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Sports News of Monday, 20 January 2020

Source: www.mynigeria.com

AFCON change will "obstruct European calendar" - Finidi George

Finidi George Finidi George

Nigerian football legend, Finidi George has spoken up on the consequences of the AFCON shift, especially to European clubs.

Due to harsh conditions in Cameroon, the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) reschedule the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) from June-July back to January-February, clashing with the European club season.

As such, the Nigerian legend expects the decision to be an issue for European clubs.

George, a winner of the 1994 AFCON with Nigeria’s Super Eagles, believes the decision will be a setback for European clubs which have African players on their rosters.

“It’s good but I think it’s going to obstruct the European calendar a bit,” George told Goal.

“We had that before and we had lots of complaints and now they are going back to the former arrangement which is certainly not good news for European teams.

“I don’t know how they will take that because we have a lot of African players in Europe and if most of them will leave for [the] Nations Cup – that will create some problems. However, they should be able to figure it out.

“For instance, a team like Liverpool will complain because their star players [Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita] would be unavailable to prosecute key matches.

“These players are getting well paid and if they are leaving in January when most clubs are struggling or trying to win a league. That will be a problem.” [African Football]