This archive report was first published on 26 August 2021.
On July 19, 2019, Algeria's forward Riyad Mahrez (C) received the trophy from Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Ahmad Ahmad (L) during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) Final football match between Senegal and Algeria at the Cairo International Stadium in Cairo. (AFP)
The Confederation of African Football has appealed to the British government to grant exemptions to African footballers who are hoping to return to their home countries next week to compete in World Cup qualifiers. This call follows the collective decision by Premier League clubs to refuse to release players headed to countries on the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 ‘red list’ due to quarantine measures they would face on their return from international duty.
CAF has urged the British Government to provide the required exemptions to enable African players to compete for their countries in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. The organisation noted that similar exemptions were granted by the British Government to enable the attendance of delegations and officials at the finals of the European Championship held less than two months ago.
CAF stated that the circumstances in the African countries on the red list are in many cases less severe than other countries not currently on this list or for which exemptions were previously provided. The organisation added that all next month’s World Cup qualifiers in Africa would be played under strict health conditions, with the matches delivered under the strict protocols developed by FIFA and applied across the world.
CAF has appealed to the Football Association (FA) and the British Government to extend the same treatment previously applied to Europe to Africa under the principles of solidarity and equal treatment. This appeal follows a similar appeal for solidarity from FIFA president Gianni Infantino, whose organisation had previously allowed clubs to refuse call-ups to players who face quarantine on return for international assignments.
