The Lions have called Sarr up for the tournament while Watford claim he is out with injury.
Ismaila Sarr has not played a single Premier League minute for Watford since November 20. The 23-year-old is recovering from a severe knee ligament injury.
Sarr will most likely stay sidelined until the end of January as he slowly starts training with the ball. However, a surprising call up from Senegal named him among the Lions’ squad for AFCON earlier this month.
The Senegalese Football Federation has expressed its frustration over Watford’s ‘unjustified’ reason to block Sarr from participating in AFCON.
“By mail on Friday, December 31, Watford notified on the basis of arguments equally specious as fallacious its decision to block the player Ismaila Sarr, who has expressed his desire to join the Senegalese selection for the next Cup of Nations in Cameroon,” a statement read.
“The Senegal Football Federation wishes to express with this communication its deep condemnation of the disrespectful, pernicious and discriminatory behaviour of Watford’s hierarchy who look by all means to prevent a player from playing with his national team.”
Watford responds!
Senegal, who finished as runner-ups to Algeria in 2019, are among the favourites to win the title. However, it is hard to imagine the Lions would be able to bring Sarr with them. Especially since the player himself has remained silent on the subject,
On the other hand, Watford will most likely do their best to keep Sarr amid their horrible run of form. Claudio Ranier’s side are facing serious relegation danger and the return of Sarr could be decisive.
Watford responded to Cameroon’s statement hours later.
The club’s official statement reads: “Ismaila Sarr suffered a knee ligament injury on November 20 in the match against Manchester United and has not been fit to play for Watford FC since that date.
“In early December, the club wrote to the Senegal Football Federation outlining the clinical diagnosis of Ismaila’s injury and immediately followed that up by supplying the MRI scans detailing the extent of the injury.
“After further consultation with medical experts, we informed the federation of Ismaila’s rehabilitation process and likely timeframe of recovery.
“Within the past 10 days, the club has reiterated to the Senegal Football Federation the player’s current medical status and recovery schedule.
“The Hornets have also invited the Senegal Football Federation to instruct their own independent surgeon to confirm the diagnosis and rehabilitation period.”
Senegal will play alongside Zimbabwe, Guinea, and Malawi in Group B of the AFCON. The Lions will face Zimbabwe in their opening game of the tournament, before meeting Guinea four days later. They will then play against Malawi in their final group-stage game on January 18.
You can check out full squads of every AFCON team here!
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