AFCON: Mali’s Saintfiet unhappy with FIFA’s decision to delay release of players

Mali national team coach Tom Saintfiet has taken issues with World governing body FIFA’s decision to cut down the time players must be released to their national teams ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals in Morocco.

With less than three weeks to the tournament in the North African nation, which runs from December 21st to January 18th, football’s world governing body announced on Wednesday that clubs need only release players from December 15th instead of a fortnight before the start of a continental championship, as is the FIFA regulation.

This means African players at European clubs and elsewhere cannot join their national teams for AFCON until December 15, unless a consensus or negotiated agreement is reached between the player and the club.

FIFA made its official statement on Wednesday after “fruitful consultations” led by FIFA with key stakeholders. “The Bureau of the Council has taken a decision in relation to the mandatory release of players for the CAF Africa Cup of Nations 2025, which will take place in Morocco from 21 December 2025 to 18 January 2026,” FIFA said.

‘The world needs to respect African football’

“I think the world needs to respect African football,” said Saintfiet as quoted by Reuters. “There is never a perfect solution. If you talk, it’s in the middle of the season, then you think about the west European countries, the majority of them, but they are not ruling the world of football.

“Players who play in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Russia, they are at the end of the season, they have finished the season. So football is not only played in England, or not only played in Germany or in Italy.”

He added: “I think Africa has to do what they feel is the best. It has to do with climate… and I think the rest of the world has to start respecting Africa… there are rules (about) two weeks before the tournament and it’s never perfect.

“I mean if there’s a World Cup in June, July, there are other leagues who have to stop. Norway is in the middle of the league, Japan is in the middle of the league, Russia is in the middle of the league, or they are not playing World Cup.”

He further said Mali have already been forced to cancel some of their friendly matches ahead of the AFCON. He said: “We will see our players six days before the tournament. We have a different situation… All our players are foreign-based players, so it’s a big consequence for us.”

Mali will play in Group A of the tournament alongside hosts Morocco, Zambia and Comoros

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