AFCON 2025 – Late release of internationals: Uganda’s head coach slams FIFA
Uganda’s national coach, Paul Put, criticized a decision that disrupts teams’ preparations a week before the start of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, after FIFA pushed back the release date for African internationals to December 15.
La sélection ougandaise de football
Uganda’s coach, Paul Put, did not mince his words after FIFA’s decision to reduce the release period for players ahead of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations. According to the Daily Post, the world body revised its regulations, changing the period from two weeks to just seven days before the kick-off of the competition, a modification seen as favoring European clubs.
This schedule change has thrown off the plans of many national teams in the tournament. And Paul Put was quick to express his frustration. “We received a message from FIFA informing us that players based abroad would only be available on the 16th or 17th. I was hoping to get them back as early as the 8th. So we’ll only have half the squad until then,” the coach lamented on the official site of the Ugandan Federation.
“It becomes very difficult to prepare the team properly, but we will cope. It’s regrettable, but it’s the reality,” he continued. The Cranes continue their preparations for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, scheduled to take place in Casablanca, Morocco.