CAF tells UK government to order release of Black Stars players for World Cup qualifiers

The Confederation of African Football has urged the United Kingdom government to order the release of Black Stars players for their World Cup qualifiers.

Ghana will commence their World Cup qualifiers against Ethiopia on September 3 at the Cape Coast Stadium before they travel to Johannesburg for the South Africa encounter on September.

Premier League clubs recently agreed not to release players for international duty next month for matches that would be played in countries on the UK’s coronavirus ‘red list’.

There have been concerns over mandatory quarantines for players travelling to and from red-list countries during the international break, which could threaten health and safety and have a serious knock-on effect for clubs in terms of training and the resumption of domestic games.

However, the African football body (CAF) has asked the British government to grant exemption to the continent’s stars for the second round of the World Cup qualifiers that will start in September.

“Caf has noted the current circumstances in place in Britain regarding the lack of sporting exemptions for players returning from several African countries after the international window next week,” read the statement on its website.

“Caf, acting on behalf of all African Member Associations, African players and fans, has urged the British Government to urgently provide the required exemptions to enable African players to compete for their countries in the upcoming Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers.

“Caf notes that similar exemptions were granted by the British Government to enable the attendance of delegations and officials, amongst others, at the finals of the European Championship held less than two months ago.”