Ex-Ghana midfielder Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu laments on scheduling of 2025 AFCON tournament

Former Ghana international Emmanuel Agyemang Badu has expressed concern over the scheduling of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which could pose challenges for African players.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) recently announced that the 34th edition of AFCON will take place from December 2025 to January 2026.

This timing means that many of Africa's top players, who are active in European leagues, will have to leave their clubs during the season and miss celebrating the festive period with their families—a situation Badu finds problematic.

"It's a very difficult situation, but this is our job. This is the kind of job we want to do," Badu told Joy Sports.

"You need to be there and represent your country. You need to make yourself proud, your country proud. So whenever you get the call-up, whether it's Christmas time, whether the European club will worry us, you just need to come and do the job for your country."

Badu also called on CAF to prevent such scheduling conflicts in the future.

"It's just unfortunate, but we need to abide by it and just go with it. I hope it will not repeat itself because it will bring a lot of chaos for the players," he added.