FIFA Grants Clubs an Extra Week Before AFCON Player Release

FIFA have granted Premier League clubs an extra week to keep their stars heading to the Africa Cup of Nations.

AfroBallers understands teams will not have to release their players until December 15 – seven days later than the initial deadline – in a major boost for those whose squads will be affected by departures for the tournament in Morocco.

The ruling means seven Sunderland first-teamers will be able to play in the first Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle in the top flight for nine years, with the clash set for December 14.

Manchester United could also benefit as they may be able to field Amad Diallo, Bryan Mbeumo and Noussair Mazraoui when Ruben Amorim’s side host Bournemouth the following day.

It is not yet clear whether they could feature given the fixture falls on the new date FIFA has told clubs to release their players by.

Liverpool will be able to keep Mohamed Salah, dropped for the win over West Ham on Sunday, for their game against Brighton on December 13, while his Egyptian counterpart Omar Marmoush will be available for Man City’s visit to Crystal Palace on December 14. 

As many as 45 Premier League players could be leaving their clubs to play at AFCON, which begins on December 21.

Just four clubs – Arsenal, Chelsea, Leeds and Newcastle – do not have any representatives heading to the tournament.

Newcastle had been sweating over Yoane Wissa but the injured striker, who is yet to make his debut for the club since signing from Brentford for £55million, has not been selected by DR Congo.

Sunderland are the worst affected as Chemesdine Talbi, Simon Adingra, Bertrand Traore, Arthur Masuaku, Reinildo, Noah Sadiki and Habib Diarra are all in line to miss crucial games over the festive period because of AFCON.

Winless Wolves, bottom of the table with two points from 13 matches, are set to lose up to five players, one more than Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest.

Man United were among the clubs pushing for FIFA to delay the deadline to release their players for the tournament.

Stars could miss up to eight matches, as well as an FA Cup third-round tie, if their country reaches the final on January 18.

There is precedent for players arriving late, even after the FIFA deadline. Andre Onana, a surprise omission from Cameroon’s squad for the upcoming tournament, missed the first match of the 2023 AFCON after delaying his journey to the Ivory Coast to play in Man United’s clash with Tottenham.