Le Roy raises alarm over FIFA decision to expand Club World Cup
...Says it will kill AFCON
Togo head coach, Claude Le Roy, believes FIFA’s latest decision to expand the Club World Cup, saying it will kill the Africa Cup of Nations.
FIFA had confirmed that the Club World Cup tournament will be expanded from seven teams to 24 and be played every four years during the same period as the African spectacle.
Le Roy, one of the most respected coaches in African football, with a record nine appearances at the continental showpiece has expressed his dismay at the latest decision by the world football governing body.
“FIFA’s decision that June is a good time to host the Club World Cup means they are killing the Nations Cup,” LeRoy told BBC Sport Africa.
“When they decided to make a world championship of clubs with 24 teams at the same time as the Africa Cup of Nations, it’s terrible for the projection of this beautiful competition – the Nations Cup.”
Egypt 2019 displayed real promise from a sporting and marketing perspective with an extended version played out between June and July instead of the traditional January period.
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While the club-versus-country row from European club’s reluctant to release their star African players becoming less of an issue – the 1998 AFCON winner believes a new stumbling block lies ahead.