Rennes Coach Slams AFCON Player Release Delay: "Illogical to Change Dates for Club World Cup, Then Postpone Player Release"

Habib Beye, the coach of French club Stade Rennais and a former Senegalese international, has criticized the decision to postpone the release of African players for the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), which will be hosted by Morocco between December 21, 2025, and January 18, 2026.

FIFA has allowed European clubs not to release their African international players before December 15, just six days before the start of the tournament. Beye described this belated decision, issued under pressure from European clubs, as "incorrect."

The Senegalese coach elaborated on his viewpoint, stating: "When you have an agreed-upon date for players to return to their national teams, and preparations are underway, with federations booking hotels and scheduling friendly matches, then this information is given very late – for me, that is incorrect."

He added: "As a coach, I follow the same logic as all other coaches, and I will keep the players until the 15th." Beye noted that the players concerned at Rennes are Nagida and Fofana, and possibly Moroccan Abdehamid Ait Boudlal, emphasizing the need to consider the other side and recognize the Africa Cup of Nations as a major competition in Africa.

Beye expressed no surprise at the situation, indicating that "this interference, or this aspect that allows influencing this competition at the last minute, believing it to be a secondary competition, has already happened in the past." The former international continued: "I have experienced these kinds of things where we get the feeling that we can change the date of the Africa Cup whenever we want, place it wherever we want, and organize it however we want, and this does not happen with other federations or in other international competitions."

Beye concluded his remarks by saying: "Everyone knows that the Africa Cup was scheduled a very long time ago. Its date was changed due to the Club World Cup, and from the moment it was changed, everyone was aware. If we were asked to release our players on the 8th, we would have done so on the 8th. We are among the clubs that did not pressure any federation to keep our players. Rennes players will stay with us until the 15th, and we are very happy to have them. But if we put ourselves in the shoes of national team coaches and and federations, I see this as incorrect."