Liverpool allowed to delay the release of Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita
According to The Associated Press (h/t Liverpool Echo), The Confederation of African Football has accepted a request from domestic leagues to delay the release of players, which will see Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane, and Naby Keita participate in the festive schedule games.
Liverpool stars Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita have all been called up by their respective national teams to feature in the African Cup Of Nations happening next January. However, the release of the key players will be a massive blow to the Reds’ season as they will miss several club fixtures in January.
It seems CAF has given the green light to the request of the Domestic Leagues to delay the release of the players. According to FIFA rules, the three players were expected to join their national sides on Monday. But it is believed that the African governing body will now allow the clubs to keep the called up players until 3rd January.
A letter from FIFA deputy secretary general Mattias Grafstrom revealed that the decision has been made to help the clubs tackle the Covid-related problems.
“CAF has decided that for those players who have official club matches between the 27 December 2021 and 3 January 2022, the participating member associations in question are to be directed that these players may remain with their clubs to participate in these matches and be released after the last match during this period.”
The African trio could now feature in Tuesday’s Premier League clash against Leicester City and Sunday’s game against Chelsea, which they were expected to miss. However, they will surely miss both legs of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Arsenal, the FA Cup third-round clash against Shrewsbury Town, and the Premier League match against Brentford. Any further absences would depend on how far the players can proceed in the AFCON.
The news is a massive boost to the Liverpool camp. Reds faced covid complications in the last week as Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones and Thiago Alcântara were sidelined. Even though all the players have returned to training except the Spaniard, the recent surge in Covid cases has put enormous uncertainty over the availability of critical performers.
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On top of that, there is a hectic schedule that needs to be negotiated during the festive period, which makes players’ lives even harder. Therefore, losing any player at this moment is a massive disadvantage to the team.
Liverpool are still contenders for the major titles this season and the extended stay of the African trio would be a relief for Jurgen Klopp and co.
