The world needs to respect African football, Mali coach Saintfiet says

Dec 4 : African football deserves greater respect, Mali coach Tom Saintfiet said, after FIFA's surprise decision to delay the release of players to their national teams ahead of this month's Africa Cup of Nations.

With less than three weeks until the tournament in Morocco, FIFA announced on Wednesday that clubs needed to release players only from December 15, a week later than the standard international window.

The 35th edition of the biennial tournament, which runs from December 21 to January 18, was originally scheduled for the northern summer to avoid clashing with the European club season, but was later moved to winter.

"I think the world needs to respect African football" Saintfiet told Reuters in a Zoom interview on Wednesday.

Asked about the most suitable timing for the competition, he said: "There is never a perfect solution. If you talk, it's in the middle of the season, then you think about the west European countries, the majority of them, but they are not ruling the world of football.

"Players who play in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Russia, they are at the end of the season, they have finished the season. So football is not only played in England, or not only played in Germany or in Italy.

"I think Africa has to do what they feel is the best. It has to do with climate... and I think the rest of the world has to start respecting Africa... there are rules (about) two weeks before the tournament and it's never perfect.

"I mean if there's a World Cup in June, July, there are other leagues who have to stop. Norway is in the middle of the league, Japan is in the middle of the league, Russia is in the middle of the league, or they are not playing World Cup," he added.

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FIFA’s decision