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Footballers from African countries are only welcome in Napoli if they agree not to participate in the Africa Cup. Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis said this in an interview with Italian TV. The Italian is tired of having to hand over African players to their national teams for the Africa Cup mid-season.

“Don’t talk to me about African footballers anymore, I’m not going to buy them anymore. We pay their salaries and then send them around the world to play for others in the middle of the season,” the Napoli club president said. . “I wish them the best. But either they sign a statement saying they are distancing themselves from the Africa Cup or I don’t need them anymore.”

Napoli currently have three African players in their squad: Victor Osimhen (Nigeria), André-Frank Zambo Anguissa (Cameroon) and Adam Ounas (Algeria).

Kalidou Koulibaly, the Senegalese defender who played nearly 300 games with Napoli and moved to Chelsea this summer, is outraged. “You can’t talk about African national teams like that. You have to respect them like you respect European national teams.” Koulibaly won the African Cup with his country as captain of Senegal in early 2022.