CAF TURN DEAF EAR TO CALLS ON NATIONS CUP TIMING

IT'S supposed to be a real spectacle, a tournament every footballer looks forward to be a part of, but the African Cup of Nations Finals have become something of a recurrent bad dream for the continent's ever-growing army of foreign-based players.

That is because CAF - the continent's soccer governing body -- has chosen to stick by its schedule of staging this tournament at a time players are supposed to be in greater demand at their respective clubs abroad.


Some of Africa's top footballers -- among them Senegal skipper El Hadji Diouf and Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o -- have publicly condemned the timing of the biennial showcase, urging the Confederation of African Football to reschedule it around the same time as the European Championships to avoid the club-versus-country row, but the authorities have chosen to bury their heads in the sand without due introspection of the case.

And CAF are sticking to their guns, with organisation boss Issa Hayatou insisting they would not be swayed by Europe to change a calendar that suits Africa in more respects than just football.

The results will be like leading the horse to the river -- or even bringing the water to the horse -- and forcing it to drink. The African players might be in Ghana for the 26th edition of the biennial tournament, but most of them are doing so grudgingly to avoid being vilified back home by fans, most of whom are so extremist they have been known to go on reprisals against footballers' immediate families.

The players' arguments are not without merit. This time of the year is when European leagues take shape, with regards to relegation and the championship as well as positioning themselves for places in both the Uefa Champions League and Uefa Cup.

Clubs cannot take it kindly when the absence of key players costs them lucrative titles. Yet the argument has always been the future of the African game lies in exporting more players to top leagues in Europe, but with CAF refusing to see reason, club managers abroad will become more and more hesitant to take players from these shores because of an argument that can best be described as self-centred on the part of CAF.

CAF say the reason for playing the Nations Cup in January is because of weather patterns, but the 2010 Nations Cup Finals will be staged in Angola -- smack in the middle of the rainy season. Maybe CAF forget the tournament is for the rest of the African continent, not just North and West Africa, because that argument about the timing being dictated by climatic conditions does not wash.Hayatou only exposed his shortcomings by declaring on arrival in Ghana last week:

"As long as I remain the president of CAF, the date scheduled for Africa's biggest soccer fiesta will remain unchanged. We are not going to bow to their whims and caprices. We will maintain our stand regarding the organisation of the competition. It will be held every two years in January."

With clubs abroad paying big money to their top players, many of whom are from Africa, footballers will end up either feigning injuries around this time of the year, or opting to prematurely retire from national teams, which will then deny the tournament its best talent, reducing it to nothing but a farce.