Super Eagles coach Eric Chelle has suffered a setback in his plans for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), as Fulham coach Marco Silva has revealed Samuel Chukwueze will remain with his club for nearly two more weeks, Soccernet.ng reports.
The 2025 Africa Cup of Nations is set to kick off in just about 18 days, and most of the talk has been around the participating countries releasing their squad lists for the competition.
A major issue of concern, however, has been the release date for the players based in Europe. Most of the top African countries have their best players featuring in Europe.
Some of these leagues, especially the Premier League, will still be ongoing for the entire duration of the 2025 AFCON.
Usually, FIFA favors the countries for international competitions like the AFCON, stipulating that players can join their national teams up to two weeks before the tournament.
However, countries, clubs, and players have often found a middle ground because of how badly early release affects clubs, some of whom lose their key players or even more than half of their starting elevens.
For example, at the last AFCON, Cameroonian goalkeeper André Onana arrived in camp on the eve of their first game because he wanted to play for Manchester United.
FIFA's U-Turn on Players Release Date For AFCON 2025
But on Tuesday, news broke that FIFA had informed clubs that they could keep their players until December 15, barely six days before the start of the 2025 AFCON.
EXCL: Sunderland’s SEVEN AFCON players are set to be available for the Wear-Tyne derby next weekend.
FIFA has informed clubs that they will be able to retain players selected for AFCON until December 15.
⚽️ High-flying Sunderland host Newcastle the day before, December… pic.twitter.com/q5vnHBHsOH— Keith Downie (@SkySports_Keith) December 1, 2025
It is unconfirmed whether this rule applies only to the Premier League clubs or cuts across all European leagues.
Most clubs will likely take advantage of this new update, especially as this period is a critical point in the season.
Super Eagles: Eric Chelle To Take A Big Hit
Nigeria will likely be hit hard, as most Super Eagles players ply their trade in Europe, with at least nine playing in the Premier League.
Fulham alone have three Super Eagles regulars: Alex Iwobi, Samuel Chukwueze, and Calvin Bassey, and all three of them are important for the club.
Iwobi and Chukwueze both scored in their recent 5-4 loss to Manchester City on Tuesday, and coach Marco Silva spoke about the latter after the game. And he mentioned that Chukwueze would still be with the team for the next 15 days.
“Chukwueze is showing his quality. We will lose him in 15 days time,” Silva said, per Jack Kelly.
This confirmation from coach Silva, and the new late FIFA release date, means that coach Chelle will have very little time with his full squad before the tournament begins.
Recall that a 55-man provisional list for the 2025 AFCON was released on Tuesday. That list is expected to be trimmed down to 28 players in the coming days.
Nonetheless, it is clear that a good number of the invited players will not be in camp before the 15th of December.
