Jay Jay Okocha Vindicated? Ligue 1 set to lose 56 players to AFCON tournament

Achraf Hakimi who plies his trade with the Ligue 1 Champions, Paris Saint-Germain will be representing Morocco at the AFCON tournament in Ivory Coast.

The AFCON tournament is just nine days away, and the French Ligue 1 will be missing nothing less than fifty-six players representing their respective countries in Ivory Coast, Soccernet.ng reports.

Amongst the top-five European leagues, the French Ligue 1 has the highest population of French-speaking African players, most of whom come from Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, and Guinea.

Clubs like F.C. Metz will lose about eleven players. Some of these players are key players for the club and will be absent for about a month as the club fights for safety, with just two points above the relegation spots.

The French League isn't the only one affected, as Premier League side, Nottingham Forest will also be without six players. The numbers could have been higher but an injury keeps Taiwo Awoniyi out of action.

In the German Bundesliga, Bayer 04 Leverkusen will be without four players (Amine Adli, Edmond Tapsoba, Victor Boniface, and Odillon Kossounou).

Super Eagles legend, Jay-Jay Okocha, raised a complaint about the timing of the AFCON competition, claiming it's not fair to the players as they'll miss a part of their team's season, and risk jeopardizing their playing time after returning from the competition.

Taking a closer look, the timing of the competition isn't fair to the clubs either as they lose some of the players they've planned and trained with for an important period, and it sometimes disturbs the team's rhythm.

Okocha wasn't the first to raise a complaint, as Leverkusen's CEO, Fernando Carro voiced his displeasure over the timing of the competition and it remains to be seen if future AFCON tournaments will be held in January or if subsequent changes will be made.