Crystal Palace Manager Patrick Vieira has reiterated that he cant stop any African player from representing their country at the Africa Cup of Nations.
The former Arsenal captain who will lose three players in Wilfried Zaha (Ivory Coast), Jordan Ayew (Ghana) and Cheikou Kouyate (Senegal) for the tournament also feels the Afcon tournament is as important as the European Championship.
“I respect and understand the passion and the importance to players to go and represent their country so I will never stop any player going to play the Africa Cup of Nations,” the ex-Arsenal captain said as quoted by BBC Sport.
“I believe that that competition needs to be more respected – because this competition is as important as the European Championships.”
The Senegalese born former France international has also challenged European journalists to give the Afcon tournament more coverage to understand how important it is to Africans.
“It might be important for you guys to cover the Africa Cup of Nations a little bit more and to go to Africa and interview people to really understand what it means for every single one of them,” he said.
“When you are talking about Senegal I don’t think people would really understand if (Sadio) Mane or Cheikou Kouyate didn’t represent their nation. If there was more coverage of that competition I think people will understand more how important it is for the African continent.”
The postponed Afcon 2021 tournament will be held in Cameroon starting January 9 to February 6, 2022.
