FIFA said today that prominent players including Mohamed Salah, Bryan Mbeumo, and Achraf Hakimi will be permitted to represent their clubs for an additional week, until December 15, prior to joining their national teams for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Prominent European clubs, including Salah’s Liverpool, Mbeumo’s Manchester United, and Hakimi’s Paris Saint-Germain, may lose pivotal players for a duration of up to five weeks due to the 24-nation tournament in Morocco, scheduled from December 21 to January 18, according to AFP.
However, they had apprehended that it might take even longer for FIFA to revise its regulations to mitigate the impact on clubs by postponing the release date by one week.
The decision followed productive conversations conducted by FIFA with essential stakeholders and was facilitated by the spirit of unity exhibited by CAF to mitigate the impact on diverse parties, according to a statement from FIFA, referencing the event organizers, the Confederation of African Football.
FIFA stated, “It was also determined to promote member associations involved in the 2025 AFCON and clubs releasing players to engage in good faith bilateral discussions to identify suitable individual solutions.”
Prior to FIFA’s decision, players were mandated to report for international duty by December 8, which might have resulted in English Premier League clubs being deprived of essential players for as many as seven or eight league matches during a notably congested segment of the season.
The competition occurs at an inconvenient time for high-flying Sunderland and last-placed Wolverhampton Wanderers, who may be without up to seven and five players, respectively.
Liverpool will be without Egyptian forward Salah, Manchester City will lack his international teammate Omar Marmoush and Algeria’s left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri, while United will miss 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 forfeit Hakimi, the current African player of the year; nevertheless, other European powerhouses such as Real Madrid, Barcelona, AC Milan, and Juventus will not have any players participating.
Nicolas Jackson, Bayern Munich’s Senegalese forward on loan from Chelsea, will participate in the tournament but will not miss numerous Bundesliga matches, since the league will observe its winter break from December 22 to January 8.
Morocco, Egypt, Algeria, and Senegal are considered frontrunners in the tournament.
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