The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has requested the British Government to grant an exemption to African players for the international window.
Britain had placed precautionary measures to confront the coronavirus outbreak, which put returnees from some countries in compulsory health isolation for a period of 10 days upon their return to England.
If the measures are enforced players travelling to some red-list countries will miss at least three matches for their clubs while in isolation.
“CAF has noted the current circumstances in place in Britain regarding the lack of sporting exemptions for players returning from several African countries after the international window next week.
“CAF, acting on behalf of all African Member-Associations, African players and fans, has urged the British Government to urgently provide the required exemptions.
”This is to enable African players to compete for their countries in the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 qualifiers,” the continental football governing body said in a statement late Wednesday.
CAF added that it noted that “similar exemptions were granted by the British Government to enable the attendance of delegations and officials, amongst others”, at the finals of the European Championship held less than two months ago.
“It is further noted that the circumstances in the African countries on the red-list in many cases are in fact less severe than in other countries not currently on this list or for which exemptions were previously provided,” the football body added.
Furthermore, CAF said it would like to reiterate that the upcoming matches would be delivered under the strict protocols developed by FIFA and applied across the world.
It added that this would be as it was the case in previous windows and continental tournaments successfully delivered without any incidents.
“These protocols have now proven beyond a doubt that they mitigate the risks involved, reflecting the success of commensurate protocols applied domestically in England and other parts of the world.”
CAF further said it has appealed, as a matter of urgency, to the Football Association (FA) and the British Government that “the same treatment previously applied to Europe now be extended to Africa”.
“This will be under the principles of solidarity and equal treatment.