FIFA Extends Deadline For Clubs To Release Players For AFCON

Star players like Mohamed Salah, Bryan Mbeumo, and Achraf Hakimi will be able to represent their clubs for an additional week until 15 December before joining their national teams for the Africa Cup of Nations, FIFA announced yesterday.

Top European clubs, including Salah’s Liverpool, Mbeumo’s Manchester United, and Hakimi’s Paris Saint-Germain, face the possibility of losing key players for up to five weeks during the 24-nation tournament in Morocco from 21 December to 18 January.

Concerns had arisen that the release date could be even longer until FIFA amended its regulations to alleviate the burden on clubs by delaying the release deadline by a week.

The decision followed “fruitful consultations led by FIFA with key stakeholders and the spirit of solidarity demonstrated by CAF to reduce the impact on various parties,” FIFA stated, referring to the Confederation of African Football, which is organising the tournament.

“It was also decided to encourage member associations participating in the 2025 AFCON and clubs releasing players to engage in good faith bilateral discussions to find suitable individual solutions,” FIFA added.

Prior to FIFA’s ruling, players were required to report for international duty by 8 December, which meant English Premier League clubs could have been without crucial players for up to seven or even eight league matches during a busy period of the season.

The timing of the competition poses a challenge for teams like high-flying Sunderland and struggling Wolverhampton Wanderers, who could be without up to seven and five players, respectively.
Liverpool will miss Egypt forward Salah; Manchester City will be without his international teammate Omar Marmoush and Algeria’s left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri, while United will lose Cameroon’s Mbeumo, Ivory Coast winger Amad Diallo, and Morocco full-back Noussair Mazraoui.

Conversely, league leaders Arsenal, Chelsea, and Leeds will remain unaffected.

French and European champions PSG will lose Hakimi, the reigning African Player of the Year, while other European giants such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, and Juventus will not have any players involved.