With AFCON just around the corner, the games that we may be without Mo Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita have been heavily analysed already but there could be some good news round the corner.
It’s all subjectively good news as there will be many African football fans that will be devastated at the thought of their landmark tournament being cancelled but this would help Jurgen Klopp’s side massively, if reports from RMC Sport are to be believed.
The increase in COVID cases due to the new Omicron variant has already affected the Premier League with the need for vaccine passports for all supporters in attendance, now it appears to be affecting a tournament that most Liverpool supporters would be happy to see postponed.
The reports read: ‘What was still a rumour several weeks ago has become far more than a probability in recent days.
‘According to our information, the African Football Confederation (CAF) could announce a cancellation of the 2022 competition in Cameroon.
‘Several national coaches have echoed this possibility without an official decision being announced to them at the moment.
‘Beyond the organizational difficulties linked to Covid-19 and its new variant Omicron, CAF is faced with the discontent of certain clubs, mainly English, who would like to be able to keep the players on British soil in the coming weeks.
‘The African players called up by their selection should thus undergo a quarantine on their return to the United Kingdom, which would therefore deprive the clubs of their players for a longer period.
‘And the country is currently affected by a significant wave of Covid cases’.
Not only the affect of the pandemic on the tournament and the Premier League but the complaints and constraints of the English clubs could be grinding the tournament to a halt.
It’s such a pivotal part of the season and to possibly lose such important players would be catastrophic and with a quarantine period likely to be in place, there would be a possibility of more than the initial three games that are believed to be missed.
From a selfish point of view the cancellation of the tournament would be great news but the main motivation behind any decision should be the safety of the fans and the players.
Let’s hope the correct decision is taken for all involved.
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If they cancelled the AFCON cup, I guess the same protocol my be applied to the upcoming winter olympics. Otherwise it would be unfair