The deadline for clubs to release players for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations has been pushed back to December 15, allowing some players to feature in an extra week of fixtures before heading to the tournament.
Teams were previously required to release players to their national sides by Monday, December 8 though The Athletic previously reported that the general expectation across the Premier League was that very few AFCON-bound players would have needed to report for international duty as early as that.
Discussions between key stakeholders, including CAF, African football’s governing body, and European Football Clubs (ECF, formerly the European Club Association) have led to a relaxation of the rules in recent years. Prior to AFCON 2021, CAF agreed to allow Premier League players to fulfil club fixtures up until six days before the tournament began.
Last year, goalkeeper Andre Onana played for Manchester United on January 14 and immediately travelled to Ivory Coast to join up with his Cameroon team-mates, who opened their AFCON 2023 (held in 2024) campaign the next day. Onana was delayed by travel issues and did not feature in Cameroon’s first game.
The world governing body said on Wednesday that the agreed delay followed “fruitful consultations led by FIFA with key stakeholders and, thanks to the spirit of solidarity demonstrated by CAF to reduce the impact on various parties”.
FIFA previously made a similar decision ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which was held during the domestic European season.
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot had previously hinted at the new date in a press conference on Tuesday, when asked when Mohamed Salah would be heading to the tournament.
This allows clubs participating in the Champions League to retain any AFCON-bound players for fixtures on December 9 and 10, while players in the Europa and Conference Leagues on December 11 will also be available.
Clubs will also be able to keep hold up of their players for one more domestic fixture, in a boost to teams such as Sunderland. Gameweek 16 in the Premier League is highlighted by the first top-flight Tyne-Wear derby since 2016, and Regis Le Bris’ side are the English team that is most affected by AFCON departures, likely losing seven first team players to the competition.
Wolverhampton Wanderers are set to have five players head to the tournament, while Nottingham Forest are likely to lose four. Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds United are the only Premier League teams without any representation at the tournament.
Alongside Salah, Premier League players that will be going to AFCON include Manchester United trio Bryan Mbeumo, Noussair Mazraoui and Amaz, Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Pape Matar Sarr and Everton forward Iliman Ndiaye.
AFCON 2025 will take place in Morocco and gets underway on December 21 when the host nation take on Comoros. The tournament concludes on January 18, meaning that clubs could be without players until then.
