Football, the beautiful game we all love and enjoy, should ultimately be for the players. Its their job after all, to honor their contracts and be professional under every instance, no matter how challenging the situation is. The players who are European and American, including both the North and South, are often helped a great deal by their federations as well the respect they receive from the fans and society. A Brazilian or a Spanish player has a different aura about him in any league he plays . The continental showpieces of Europe and South America, the Euros and the Copa America respectively, are watched admired by people worldwide. This respect and admiration, however drains down the gutter when it comes to the African and Asian tournaments, or the players in that sense.
An African or Asian player will have to work a lot harder in order to make the name an European does. But when the disrespect towards a player, community or even a country is aimed at a continental show piece, being deemed useless, that's where the line must be drawn. Here's me looking into the controversies surrounding the AFCON 2021, and the constant tug of war for a player between the National Federation and his parent club ;
A Brief History Of the AFCON
The AFCON, or more specifically the African Cup of Nations is a biennial tournament held between teams across Africa with qualifiers preceding the main tournament. Being organized by the Confederation of Africa [ CAF] it's also called Coupe d'Afrique de Nations in French, a dominant language since the days of slavery in Africa. It was first held in 1957, but became biennial [ held every 2 years] only in1968. 24 teams participate in the modern format of this tournament, increased from 16 in the previous editions. Egypt remains the most successful team in the history of the AFCON with 7 championships, while Algeria are the current holders with their second title. On 20th July, 2017 the tournament was moved from January to June, while it was decided 4 years prior in 2013 that the tournament will be held only in the odd years. Hence after the 2012 edition, it was held again in 2013, then 2015 and so on. This was done in order to avoid a clash with the FIFA World Cup, the ultimate prize in football. But doing this also robbed the champions of the AFCON the chance to participate in the FIFA Confederations Cup.
Controversies Surrounding the AFCON
The AFCON 2021 has been embroiled with controversy from the get go. The 2021 version will be the 33rd AFCON with Cameroon hosting the tournament, and that is where controversy began. Cameroon , like quite a few African countries is not politically stable and has been at the center of a civil war between the English speaking Cameroonian separatists residing in the Anglophone region and the Cameroonian Government, which has lead to mass human rights violations. The separatists, comprising 20% of Cameroon's population have been met with severe violence by their government, including burning of villages, police brutality and bombings. At least 2 host stadiums are in or near the Anglophile region, and bombings in that region during football matches have happened before, and thus is a great security threat for players and supporters alike.
The upcoming tournament is also being seen as a desperate attempt by Cameroon's long time President Paul Biya to win over the young voters in a football loving country. Biya has been the President since 1982, and like most African leaders, has been accused of misgovernment and human rights violation over decades. The ongoing peaceful protests have been met with brutality and a sort of mass murder by Biya's government, which along with a raging pandemic has further weakened a crumbling economy. The pride of hosting a continental showpiece with international coverage, having several economic and political benefits seems too good to give up for Cameroon and Biya's government.
Apart from the problems in the host country, the scheduling of the tournament has also drawn flak from several high profile clubs and managers. The tournament was scheduled to be held in June-July of 2021 coinciding with the Euros and Copa America. But unpleasant natural conditions meant it had to be preponed to January 2021. But with Covid 19 raging the whole of Africa and with the fear of the players getting affected, the tournament has been finally rescheduled for 9th January to 6th February. And many top clubs aren't too happy with this. The simple reason being, this by far the most challenging phase in the season with cup competitions starting, the Champions league resuming and the leagues being half over. No team would like to loose their star players right now, and worse is the fear of them getting injured. A team like Liverpool who depend on their Egyptian superstar Mohammed Salah, or a team like Ajax who depend so much on Ivorian Sebastian Haller's goals will surely complain. While a team with great depth like Manchester City is unlikely to rue over missing an important player like Riyad Mahrez too much, a team like AC Milan will surely miss Ivorian Kessie's presence in the midfield. Granted that the January transfer window is open and the clubs can sign a replacement if they want, but getting a quality player for the short term is next to impossible in today's inflated market.
Another reason for these controversies is, of course racism. Sadly but not shockingly, AFCON is being singled out as being unnecessary. African football has always been disrespected by their European peers, and clubs have not stepped up to protect their players. The Euros or the Copa never get questioned, neither do clubs object to releasing players, but when it comes to the AFCON or the AFC Asian cup, that's where the controversies begin. Covid was completely ignored while the Euros were being held all across Europe with full stadiums, but when its Asia or Africa, that's where the discrimination comes in. Arsenal and England legend Ian Wright was spot on when he recently said that the AFCON is " tinged with racism" and no other competition is as disrespected as it is.
Club vs Country ; A Great Dilemma
The perennial question, who owns the players? Is it the club or the country's federation? Or does it depend on who pays more? And who gets to decide whether to release the player or not? All these questions have been in circulation for long in world football. The club pays a huge salary to its players, something the national federation can never offer. But the feeling of playing for your country, playing for your own people, singing your national anthem at a big stage and wrapping your national flag around your shoulders....can money buy these things? The players are bound by contracts to their parent clubs, which is like a corporate job, you play to get paid. But which option does a player choose when it comes to his career?
Well, ideally an environment should not be created where a player has to choose between his club and country. I agree that a lot of money has to be spent in organizing a tournament of the magnitude of AFCON, but what importance will remain in it if main attractions, the players don't play? A continental tournament should strictly be played in the offseason and that too after the players have recovered from the stress they endured throughout the season. They are not robots and need to rest as well, otherwise their performance levels will fall and this increases chances of injuries. The workload on the players these days is too much, with both FIFA and UEFA inventing new competitions without consulting the players first. Situations like that created around the AFCON wouldn't exist in an ideal world, but again is this world ideal in any sense?
The Road Ahead
The road ahead looks bumpy to say the least. With the increase in the number of tournaments and the calendar being jam-packed with matches offering players little to no rest, I can see the day a club refuses to let its players go for an international or continental show piece. The British clubs already refused to release their South American players last years for international matches owing to Covid scare. Such instances along with an upcoming super league, will further demean the already wavering popularity of international matches. If the biennial World Cup decision is passed, then the clubs will have no option other than blocking their players' participation. The players, the biggest sufferers of this tussle, will have to opt out of the World Cup in order to extend their careers. All this in the for-seeable future will create a ripple in footballing havens, their effect? Only time will tell.
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POSTER- SAYAK MAITY[ instagram handle- @iamsayakmaity]
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