Napoli president's reasons for criticising the Africa Cup of Nations
Aurelio De Laurentiis is the quirky Napoli president who claims that, year after year, he turns down an average of 900 million euros from American investment funds to buy his club. That team in which Maradona played and which has put the Italian giants on the ropes in recent seasons thanks to Spaniards such as Benítez, Albiol and Callejón.
De Laurentiis has no problem speaking out against FIFA and UEFA at the age of 73. He has seen how the pandemic has led Napoli to stop earning 200 million euros while PSG and City continue to manage the market from an adulterated budget.
Such is the anger of the Napoli president that he has taken a different stance against the Super League. "Enough of these fake competitions like the Champions League, Europa League and Conference League. We need to create competitions that are played over a week between the five best European championships," he told Wall Street Italia.
Something is stirring in southern Europe in favour of a new competition without the supervision and interests of UEFA and FIFA. While Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus are still waiting for the European Court of Justice (CJEU) ruling in December, other teams are taking a stand against the system that has been in place for more than 30 years and which in the years following the pandemic is leaving a bleak outlook for clubs.
The Qatar World Cup to be played in November and December 2022 breaks the regularity of competitions and De Laurentiis has been blunt, "it is the State of Qatar that pays PSG's galactic salaries because it continues to extract oil. And therefore they had the power to postpone the World Cup to November, making life very difficult for the club. This year it will be like playing two championships".
The Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) was the last straw for the Italian manager, a competition that Sevilla also criticised much less directly last season. The tournament is held between January and February and, due to the pandemic, will be held two years in a row instead of every other year as before.
The last CAN was held in 2022 and was the one for 2021. Senegal beat Egypt on penalties, but the most telling thing about that tournament was that Salah's team played extra time and penalties from the round of 16 to the final with the wear and tear and risk of injury that this entailed for the clubs who loaned their players for the African tournament. This year the tournament will be repeated in Côte d'Ivoire, although it will be played between June and July because the usual dates are taken up by the World Cup in Qatar.
Napoli have a roster of African players who have contributed a lot to the team in recent seasons. De Laurentiis, like other presidents, knew what they were in for if they signed them, but two CANs in a row plus a World Cup have tried their patience.
"Don't talk to me about African players, either they sign a letter waiving their right to participate in the African Cup of Nations or AFCON tournaments and the South American championships... or I won't sign them. I never have them available. They are going to play away while we pay them," explained the tycoon.
After Koulibaly's departure to Chelsea, the list of Africans is made up of Victor Oshimen of Nigeria, Zambo Anguissa of Cameroon, and Karim Zedadka and Adam Ounas of Algeria, i.e. players with lesser presence in the starting line-up of the southern Italian squad.
The situation has become untenable in recent years and has culminated in the complaint of one of the presidents who has the least difficulty in expressing himself publicly. He will not be the only one between now and the end of 2022, the famous CJEU ruling may be the beginning of a new world football
