English Premier League side, Arsenal will be without their African players for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations tournament.
The tournament, to be held in Cameroon, was initially scheduled for the summer but the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) made a U-turn to revert to its usual January slot.
Following talks between the Confederation of African Football (Caf) and the Cameroon Football Federation (Fecafoot), it was decided that the tournament instead will take place in January and February 2022 – right in the middle of Europe’s domestic football season.
This means the Gunners will lose four of their key players to their native countries for the tournament.
The next round of the qualifiers will take place on March 22, during the international break with the next following just eight days later.
Ghana top their group at the moment, level on nine points after four games with South Africa.
Gabon is second in theirs on goal difference with seven points from their four games but a worse goal difference by two from the Gambia.
Egypt also tops their group but, again, it is only by goal difference from Comoros.
Ivory Coast, meanwhile, sit one point clear at the top of their group.
Having played a chunk of the qualifiers, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Gabon, and Egypt could qualify for the next Africa Cup of Nations and will take Thomas Partey, Nicolas Pepe, Pierre Emerick Aubameyang, and Mohammed Elneny with them to the tournament.
This will come as big blow for the club the middle of the season next year.
Source: Mybrytfmonline/Sylvester Ntim
