AFCON Qualifiers - French clubs block release of African players

by Staff Reporter

Thursday Mar 18, 2021. 12:00

The Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP) have announced that French clubs have decided to restrict players from travelling for any international games outside of Europe.

This comes after club presidents from France’s top two divisions met with the LFP on Wednesday to discuss the upcoming international break and they reached the decision with respect to players’ safety against coronavirus.

As a result, many African teams will be without some of their key players during the upcoming 2022 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers later this month.

The LFP released the following statement explaining that French clubs have taken this stand based on FIFA circular 1749 of 5 February:

“At the initiative of the presidents of the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 colleges, a consultation was carried out on Wednesday March 17 with all club presidents concerning players outside the France A team likely to participate in a match outside of France, the EU/EEA zone during the next international period in March,” the statement read.

“In the absence of a ‘septaine’ exemption for foreign international players made available to their national team and in view of the response times imposed by international regulations, the clubs of Ligue 1 Uber Eats and Ligue 2 BKT have decided to unanimously this Wednesday March 17, apply the FIFA circular of February 5, 2021 taking into account the many travel restrictions in the world.

“In this context, the clubs will not make available for selection the foreign players summoned for matches outside the EU/EEA zone during the next international period in March.”

The last two rounds of the 2022 AFCON qualifiers will be played during the upcoming FIFA break.