Legendary Egyptian striker Ahmed Hossam Hussein Abdelhamid, publicly known as Mido has slammed world governing body Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).
The former Tottenham Hotspur star is unhappy with FIFA’s decision to stage the Club World Cup at the same time as the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
The Club World Cup was scheduled for December 2021, but it will now be held from February 3 to 12, 2022, in the United Arab Emirates after original hosts Japan pulled out because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Club World Cup sees the winners of the continental cups in FIFA’s six confederations, along with the UAE league champions, compete to become the World Club Champions.
While the AFCON tournament will take place from January 9 to February 6 in Cameroon, Mido, who won the 2006 AFCON title with Egypt, feels that FIFA are disrespecting Africa’s biggest football tournament.
“FIFA deciding to hold the Club World Cup while AFCON is going on is a sign of disrespect to African football,” Mido said on twitter.
“It wouldn’t have been the case with the Euros or Copa America.”
The draw for the Club World Cup was conducted on Monday and African champions Al Ahly of Egypt will represent in the global tournament.
They will face Mexican side Monterrey in the first round and the winner will face Copa Libertadores winner Palmeiras in the semi-finals.
Egyptian and Africa Football power house, Al Ahly are set to protest dates for the 2022 FIFA Club World Cup finals as some of Al Ahly’s Egyptian players are expected to be included in the Pharaohs squad for the AFCON.
“Al Ahly SC will send official letters on Tuesday to the Egyptian Football Association, CAF, and FIFA, requesting the three parties to collaborate to resolve the clash of dates between the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and the 2021 FIFA Club World Cup,” a club statement read.
“The FIFA Club World Cup will be held in the UAE between 3 and 12 February which clashes with the dates of the Africa Cup of Nations, which will be held between 9 January and 6 February in Cameroon.
“Al Ahly SC have more than seven players in the Egyptian national team’s squad in addition to three foreign players who will represent their national teams in the competition, which will impact our participation in the FIFA Club World Cup.”
Al Ahly also took part in the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup finals and they clinched bronze during the tournament which was staged in Qatar.
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