It's the next turnaround in Daniel-Kofi Kyereh and Africa Cup, and it could be the decisive one. After it had looked for a long time as if there was no obligation for the clubs to be relegated to the club, but it had just emerged, Omikron now seems to have the last word on the matter.
The clubs organized in the European Club Association (ECA) refuse their players the clearance for the tournament in Cameroon (January 9th to February 6th). The background to this is the inadequate Corona protocol from the point of view of the clubs. This emerges from a letter from the ECA with board member Oliver Kahn from Bayern Munich to the world association FIFA, which is available to the French news agency AFP.
ECA: Inadequate protocol for Africa Cup
From the point of view of the ECA, the African continental federation CAF has so far submitted “not a sufficient” protocol, it says in it. As a result, the clubs see themselves "not in a position to release players for the tournament".
The mid-season tournament is a thorn in the side of many European clubs anyway. Resistance is rising above all in the English Premier League, which could turn off up to 40 professionals. In the worst case, Liverpool FC from coach Jurgen Klopp would have to do without its stars Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita in up to five league games.
Africa Cup of Nations with Ghana: Doesn't FC St. Pauli Kyereh have to turn off?
But St. Pauli would also have to play the games against Aue, Borussia Dortmund, HSV and Paderborn without the Kyereh playing for Ghana. Sports director Andreas Bornemann recently announced to MOPO that he wanted to speak to players and advisors about a possible participation of Kyereh in the continental tournament.
The organizers rejected media reports that the tournament could be postponed again. The 33rd edition of the biennial Africa Cup should actually take place in 2021, but was postponed by twelve months due to the pandemic.