‘No coach can stop me from playing at AFCON’ – Adebayor slams European clubs

The AFCON is scheduled to start in a few days’ time on January 9, 2022 in Cameroon, but the European Clubs Association (ECA) has already communicated its reluctance to release players.

It is worthy to note that Africa has several players in Europe’s top leagues, including Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Riyad Mahrez and Thomas Partey.

In a letter to FIFA, however, the ECA raised concerns over travel restrictions and the spread of the Omicron variant.

“With regards to applicable protocols, as far as we are aware, Caf has not yet made available a suitable medical and operational protocol for the Afcon tournament, in the absence of which clubs will not be able to release players for the tournament,” a section of the statement said.

However, reacting to this, Adebayor, who used to play for Arsenal and Tottenham, slammed the ECA over its reluctance to release players for the AFCON.

"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.

In recent days, there have been reports that the AFCON could be cancelled, but CAF President Patrice Mostepe has affirmed that the tournament will go on as scheduled.