Kelechi Iheanacho was 13 when he made his debut in the shirt of Nigeria. Later, he won the Golden Ball at the Under 17 World Cup, and was voted Most Promising Talent by the Confederation of African Football.
That was 2013. The boy from Owerri in Nigeria’s south east signed for Leicester in 2017.
No less Nigerian, Wilfred Ndidi hails from the biggest city, Lagos. He was picked by his country at Under 17 and Under 20 level and made his senior debut against DR Congo on October 8, 2015, roughly 15 months before he played his first game for Leicester, against Everton in the FA Cup.
Leicester City surely knew that the likes of Kelechi Iheanacho (R) and Wilfred Ndidi (L) would head to AFCON when they were signed by the club
As for Daniel Amartey, he was born in Accra, capital of Ghana and by May 2012 was a regular for his country’s Under 20 team before graduating to the seniors. In 2015, he started every group game at the Africa Cup of Nations for Ghana as they finished runners-up to Ivory Coast, losing the final on penalties. A year later he signed for Leicester.
So we can safely presume that when Leicester recruited these players they were under no illusions about nationality. These were African men, born in Africa, who could be expected to play for their countries of origin.
Only Iheanacho was yet to make his senior debut when he joined Leicester but there was no doubting his allegiance. And as the Africa Cup of Nations frequently takes place in the English mid-winter, no doubting the possibility that any African players might be absent for its duration.
Yet when Leicester applied, successfully, to have tonight’s match at Everton postponed, among the reasons given was the unavailability of Iheanacho, Ndidi and Amartey due to international duty at Afcon.
As if these were unforeseen events beyond Leicester’s control.
No wonder managers such as Ralph Hasenhuttl of Southampton are questioning the legitimacy of postponements and calling for restrictions on team selection when the games are played. Almost certainly he will not win that one but he has a point.
The announcement from the Premier League on Sunday said that Leicester did not have the required number of players available due to ‘Covid-19 cases, injuries and players on international duty at the Africa Cup of Nations’.
Many coaches are already suspicious of injuries, which are an occupational hazard, being thrown in the mix with the exceptional circumstances around Covid positives. But to then make allowances for African players, bought in the knowledge that they could be unavailable when Afcon called, seems to take understanding a little too far.
So it is a mystery why the Foxes cited the tournament as one reason their game at Everton should be postponed
Was this also a factor when the EFL postponed Liverpool’s Carabao Cup semi-final against Arsenal? Obviously, Covid positives are now putting greater pressure on clubs with significant numbers of African players but why should those with better homegrown pathways be forced to muddle through, while Afcon absentees become a factor? Postponements were intended for unanticipated disruption. This hardly applies to Mohamed Salah turning out to be Egyptian.
Sometimes nationality issues come as a surprise. Michail Antonio, from Wandsworth in south London, signed for West Ham in 2015. Only in 2021 did he decide to become a Jamaican international.
Wilfried Zaha was trying to establish himself with England during his first spell at Crystal Palace and again on his return in 2014. It was only in 2016, however, that he elected to declare for Ivory Coast, his country of birth.
So Palace can argue that for Zaha to be away on international duty at Afcon right now, is not what was expected when they bought him from Manchester United. This cannot be said in Leicester’s case.
Ralph Hasenhuttl has voiced his concerns, but his solution will not curry favour among bosses
Increasingly, there is disquiet over the convenience and benefits of postponement. Hasenhuttl said that acquired players should not be allowed to play in rearranged games where the postponement pre-dated their arrival. We can guess one club he might have in mind. Newcastle have already signed Kieran Trippier from Atletico Madrid. Other arrivals are in the offing. The club is making no secret of its intention to buy itself out of trouble in the January transfer window, buoyed by Saudi Arabian money.
Hasenhuttl knows that when Southampton’s game against Newcastle — postponed on January 2 — is played, the opposition squad could look entirely different. If Covid alone was responsible, his comments might appear churlish. Yet Newcastle were one of many clubs who cited injuries and Covid combined. This already appeared an extension of the postponement remit.
To then throw Afcon in there is further along an increasingly chaotic path. Leyton Orient were kicked out of the Carabao Cup last season when a Covid outbreak caused their tie with Tottenham to be postponed. No such summary justice for Liverpool this season.
No question of where Leicester stand if the absence of three African players is considered to be expected. There was no chance of Leicester being told to surrender the points.
The likes of Newcastle will benefit from postponements to allow January additions to the side
Hasenhuttl said he raised tying clubs to their pre-transfer window squads at the last Premier League meeting, without success. No wonder. There have been plenty benefiting from postponements at critical times this season and plenty whose reasoning has raised eyebrows. Equally, Aston Villa are hardly likely to vote for fulfilling fixtures without Philippe Coutinho and Lucas Digne.
Yet Hasenhuttl’s words reveal the deep mistrust that exists in the top division, a suspicion that some clubs, at a hectic and challenging stage in the campaign, gamed the system and took advantage of rules that were introduced with the best intentions.
Of course, a squad already depleted by Covid can be further harmed by injury but if your African-born players have suddenly been taken African, then really, whose fault is that?
VAR ONCE AGAIN INTERPRETED TO BENEFIT DEFENDERS
There was widespread consensus that West Ham’s first goal against Leeds last Sunday should not have stood. That Jarrod Bowen was offside when attempting to play the ball and that Leeds defender Leo Hjelde passed to the West Ham man accidentally. Referee Stuart Attwell and VAR Peter Bankes were wrong, therefore, to interpret that as a deliberate action, playing Bowen (right) onside.
Fair enough. But why no mention of the foul — the repeated holding — on Nikola Vlasic inside the penalty area before he
