Blatter's promise to Africa

2005-11-21 15:07

Johannesburg - Fifa president Sepp Blatter has given African nations a guarantee that they will have their top players available to them for the upcoming African Cup of Nations to be held in Egypt in January next year.

Blatter stressed the importance of having all of Africa's stars at the continental showpiece as it was a Fifa sanctioned tournament and also fell into the Fifa international calendar.

"Clubs must release players and respect this tournament because it falls in our international calendar. This is the case especially with African players in Europe.

"These players must be released and will be released by their clubs. It is an opportunity for all the African stars to shine on their continent," Blatter said on Monday at a media briefing in Johannesburg.

Blatter also expressed his delight at how the playing field had been levelled amongst African nations and the rest of the world in terms of performances on the field of play.

"That gap that was there before no longer exists and any nation can beat the other now. This has been the result of the development work we have done in the past 20 years on the continent. The gap only exists at club level where you find the super rich teams and the very poor ones," Blatter said.

- SAPA