Leicester defender Schlupp reignites club versus country row after last gasp winner against Spurs

By Brian Oliver 

Jeff Schlupp’s Leicester team-mates celebrated wildly after his stoppage-time winner at Tottenham. Meanwhile his Ghana team-mates will have looked on from Mongomo, where they play South Africa in a crucial Group C clash on Tuesday, thinking “Wish you were here.”

Schlupp was one of several players at European clubs who did not make it to the Africa Cup of Nations because of injury.

Senegal were furious over West Ham’s perceived lack of respect in declaring Diafra Sakho unfit, and went to Fifa and the FA to demand that he should not play for West Ham “during his specified time of unavailability”. Sakho was included in the Hammers' squad for their FA Cup clash with Bristol City on Sunday and scored the winner as a substitute.

Leicester manager Nigel Pearson said, “We operated well within our rights and were totally transparent,” in telling Ghana Schlupp could not go to Equatorial Guinea because of a knee injury.

Schlupp will not be the last man who recovers from injury to play for his club during the Cup of Nations.

 “It has happened before and it will happen again and again, until the date of the Nations Cup is changed,” said Quinton Fortune, the former Bafana Bafana and Manchester United star. “Players want to protect their club careers, and clubs want to keep their players.

“There’s absolutely no reason why it couldn’t go to June. That might be winter in parts of Africa but it’s still warm enough. Complaints that the weather is not suitable are nonsense.

“But knowing Caf [Confederation of African Football], it will never happen. They are very stubborn.”

There is no suggestion that Leicester, West Ham or other clubs have done anything wrong in declaring their players unfit for the Afcon.

Caf gave a swift rebuttal. “This is not a matter to be discussed,” said Junior Binyam, Caf’s media director. “It has been made clear for ages that Afcon is to be played between January and March because, considering the weather, that is the best period to play such a tournament. Full stop.

“For the information of those who are calling Caf ‘stubborn’, they are actually playing ?the Asian Cup now, too.”

Fortune is not impressed, and recalls his own experience to explain why he wants a change in timing.

“It happened to Benni McCarthy, it happened to me,” he told Goal. “Players want to protect their club career and sometimes they have to put that ahead of the Nations Cup. It’s not their fault, it’s Caf.

“There comes a point in a player’s career when it becomes a nightmare having to choose one way or the other. You have your whole country on your back if you don’t go, or your club manager if you do. One of them will be upset and you’re stuck in the middle.

“It happened to me, and it was tough. I had only recently joined Manchester United and had worked my way into the first team. I went to the Club World Cup in Brazil and scored a couple of goals in our last game there. I came back to England and I was straight off for a month to Mali [in January 2000].

“Looking back, I regret it. I was just getting into the first team and I left. When I got back I was in the reserves and it took me a couple of games to adjust to the change in pace.  The Nations Cup is a tough tournament.

“I spoke to Alex Ferguson and he just didn’t understand it. For him the club always came first. I probably would have preferred to stay.

“If it was my choice I’d move the timing. It doesn’t make sense. Manchester City are paying €40m for a new player [Wilfried Bony] and the first thing he does is head off to Africa for a month.

“I don’t think Caf will change it, but I hope they do.”