January 02, (THEWILL) –Â The Senegal Football Association has accused English Premier League side Watford of refusing to release Senegalese forward Ismaila Sarr for this month’s TotalEnergies 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.
On Sunday, the Federation said it will seek FIFA’s intervention after stating that Watford informed them on Friday that the highly-rated striker will not be released for the tournament in Cameroon, which begins on January 9.
The club issued a statement saying Sarr has not been totally healthy after suffering a knee ligament injury in a 4-1 win over Manchester United on November 20. They also notified Senegal of the forward’s recovery timescale.
As one of the clear favourites to win the trophy, Senegal refused to accept the club’s position. The FA forthrightly issued a statement signed by the Senegal Football Federation [FSF] general secretary Victor Seh Cisse, which read:
“The English club Watford notified on the basis of spurious arguments its decision to block the player Ismaila Sarr, who has expressed his desire to join the Senegalese selection for the Cup of Nations.
“The FSF responded immediately to confirm the player’s call-up and the club’s obligation to release the player by no later than Jan. 3.”
The statement continued with a direct threat that intimated the club that Senegal would not hesitate to take the matter up with FIFA if “Watford persists in its deliberate refusal to release the player.
“The FSF wishes to express its deep condemnation of the disrespectful, pernicious and discriminatory behaviour of Watford who seek by all means to prevent a player from playing with his national team.
“Africa, its football and its footballers deserve the same respect as that accorded to other continents, confederations and players. The FSF will take all the necessary action to ensure that the basic right of its footballers to play for their country is respected.”
In their defence, Watford replied with a statement of theirs which read: “Ismaila Sarr suffered a knee ligament injury on Nov. 20 in the match against Manchester United and has not been fit to play for Watford 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 Ismaïla’s rehabilitation process and likely time frame 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.”
It is not too complex to grasp the country’s position on the one hand and the club’s position on the other. However, the example of Super Eagles’ striker Emmanuel Dennis, who also plays for Watford, is still vivid in the mind.
The Premier League strugglers declined the Nigeria coach’s request to allow Dennis join his country’s squad, claiming that the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) did not call Dennis up on time, missing the deadline to notify the club of his selection.
Nigeria did not fight the claim, as Senegal is poised to do, but subsequently replaced Dennis in their team as THEWILL reported.
Watford, who lost in stoppage time to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday and moved closer to the relegation zone, will lose three more players to the competition — Nigeria’s William Troost Ekong and Moroccans Imran Louza and Adam Masina.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
