AFCON 2021: CAF agreed to allow Players to stay with their clubs until January 3 to boost EPL

The delayed 2021 edition of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is only a fortnight or so away but the full ramifications for Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers are still a bit unclear, even at this late stage.

We know when the tournament proper takes place but how many Gameweeks our FPL assets will miss is still unclear, with clubs battling to delay the departure of their players until the last possible minute. The tournament squads are still being finalised at the time of writing but with Gameweek 19 fast approaching, we’ll round up what we know so far.

The tournament proper runs from Sunday 9 January to Sunday 6 February and will be staged in Cameroon.

With 16 nations progressing from the 24-team group stage, the chances of getting some of the big FPL names back early aren’t great; the likes of Egypt, Ghana, Senegal, Ivory Coast and Algeria are among the tournament favourites and will expect to go deep into the knockout rounds.

With the tournament kicking off on Sunday 9 January, that theoretically would mean that players involved in AFCON will be required to leave their clubs on Monday 27 December.

Gameweeks 20 and 21 could also be affected, then, and possibly even the Newcastle United v Manchester United match in Gameweek 19.

And anyone involved in the final or third-place play-off on Sunday 6 February would surely be doubtful for Gameweek 24, which takes place on Tuesday-Wednesday 8-9 February.