FAM faults CAF

FAM has blamed Confederation of African Football (CAF) for the current dispute with foreign clubs over the release of players for national duty.

Football Association of Malawi (FAM) general secretary Suzgo Nyirenda claimed that the CAF ignored a request by FAM and other associations to review the dates for 2015 Africa Cup of Nations preliminary qualifiers after noting that they did not adhere to Fifa rules and would lead to clubs refusing to release players.

Apart from FAM, the other associations that raised concerns over the dates were Botswana, Uganda and Kenya.

Nyirenda was reacting to the current predicament in which the association has had problems seeking the release of some South Africa-based players.

One of the clubs, Bloemfontein Celtic, flatly refused to release key players Limbikani Mzava and Frank ‘Gabadinho’ Mhango even after CAF’s intervention, insisting that the dates were not under Fifa calendar. The two players have not travelled to Benin with the Flames for tomorrow’s match.

“When CAF released the dates for the preliminaries, we had our reservations because the dates did not fall under Fifa calendar and we anticipated such obstacles.

“The timing did also not give teams enough time to prepare. So based on that, we wrote CAF asking them to consider either shifting the dates or reducing the number of preliminary rounds to just one other than three as a way of ensuring that associations would not have problems seeking the release of players, unfortunately, they (CAF) stuck to their guns,” said Nyirenda.

He, therefore, said CAF has to shoulder the blame for scheduling the matches outside Fifa calendar without facilitating a solution for ‘club versus country’ dispute.

He hinted that FAM will raise the concern again at the next CAF annual general meeting (AGM) early next year.

“This will be done for future purposes because as at now nothing can change,” he said.

However, Nyirenda said in the case of Mzava and Gabadinho, Celtic were also partly to blame for holding on to the players when they do not have a competitive game anytime soon.

Soccer analyst and former FAM GS Yasin Osman said CAF should have arranged a round-table meeting with its affiliates to come up with a common view.

“CAF is at the centre of this problem because they should have taken an initiative to take up the issue with its affiliates knowing that clubs are under no obligation to release players and they (CAF) conceded that in the letter they wrote to Celtic,” said Osman.

In the letter addressed to Celtic CEO, CAF deputy GS Essam Ahmed wrote: “We realise that your club does not have any legal obligation to allow the named players to join their national team at that time, but we depend on your understanding so that the players can represent their country in this important occasion, considering that participation in these games, will allow a better visibility on continental level.”

Flames coach Young Chimodzi said such situations affect planning.

“When a team is preparing for a competitive game, the planning is centred on key players in accordance to their strengths and when a coach is unable to get his best arsenal, obviously, it becomes frustrating. I think CAF should have done better,” said Chimodzi.

Mzava said club versus country wrangles put players in awkward situations.

“I remember discussing the issue with Gaba that we were in a tight spot because we wanted to serve our nation at this crucial stage and here was an order from our employers that we were not going anywhere, so it becomes very tricky,” he said

However, in his brief response through e-mail, CAF competitions head Ahmed Salim wrote: “It was difficult to arrange the preliminary qualifiers within the Fifa dates because we also have group stages ahead. We were depending on the associations to consult and negotiate for their players’ release, but for players outside Africa then it could be a problem because we have no direct control.”

Asked further if CAF took an initiative to communicate with the associations, Salim insisted: “Our understanding was that would be agreed between the associations involved.”

He also confirmed that apart from Malawi, the other associations that raised the issues were Uganda, Kenya and Botswana.