Pele Questions CAN Timing

November 18, 2009

Former African Footballer of the Year and 1992 Africa Cup of Nations winner with the Ghanaian national team, Abedi Pele has asked CAF to review the time of the year when the Africa Cup of Nations is played.

The tournament, which is the continent's premier football competition, is played every two years and is held in January and February, which means that those dates usually cause friction, as most European leagues, where African players are nowadays prevalent, are in full swing at the time.

Many clubs, particularly European ones, are reluctant to release players for the Nations Cup.

Pele, speaking at a press conference in Johannesburg on Tuesday, believes a way to alleviate club-versus-country problems, as well as player fatigue, will be for the Africa Cup of Nations to be played at a different time of the year.

Pele, voicing his opinion on the matter, said, “with a World Cup coming up I think there are serious concerns over the timing of the Nations Cup. Everyone wants to win the Nations Cup and give 200% to the competition, but there are concerns over player tiredness, which will affect their performance.

"We have to work on the calendar, players are not machines, even a machine will break down if over worked, players are human beings when they tired they will give in, we need to come together to find a solution.”

The African football icon feels that a good way to measure whether playing in an Africa Cup of Nations tournament and a World Cup in the same year can have a negative impact on a team will be to see how hosts South Africa, who have not qualified for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations, fare at the 2010 World Cup of this he said.

“Bafana Bafana are not in the Nations Cup and South Africa will be fresh for the World Cup, where as hosts they will need to do well to ensure a fantastic tournament. If South Africa progress further than the other African countries then we will be able to make a clear judgment on this.”