Afcon 2023: Does the club versus country dilemma still exist for players...As the world’s top football clubs prepare to lose key players during the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon), is the perennial club versus country issue still relevant? Brentford midfielder Frank Onyeka is preparing for his second Afcon with Nigeria, having featured in Cameroon in early 2022. Jay-Jay Okocha won the Nations Cup with Nigeria in 1994 and says the timing of Afcon can have a big impact on players amid congested calendars. “They’ve made it so difficult for African players by playing in January or starting the season and winter break very, very early,” Okocha told the BBC World Service. “I know a lot of coaches that refuse to sign African players because of the January (Afcon) window, but they will sign Brazilians who go to play in the Copa America in the summer.

Source: Daily Nation December 28, 2023 19:54 UTC