The Napoli owner said he only wants players who refuse to play at AFCON
Napoli owner Aurelio De Laurentiis has said he will no longer sign African players for the club unless they agree not to play at the African Cup of Nations.
Former Napoli players Kalidou Koulibaly and Andre Zambo Anguissa and current striker Victor Osimhen (injury) all missed a large chunk of fixtures while on international duty at AFCON, which took place in January and February of this year.
During an interview with Wall Street Italia talk show, the owner of the Serie A side sensationally said that he regrets signing African players for the team.
He added that he will only agree to sign players from African countries if they sign a waiver in which they give up their right to play at AFCON.
“I told them lads, don’t talk to me about Africans anymore!” he said.
“Or they sign a waiver giving up their right to participate to the Africa Cup of Nations tournaments or between AFCON and the championships in South America … I never have them [Napoli players] available.”
Napoli president Aurelio de Laurentiis says he doesn't want any more Africans at the club unless they commit in writing to not playing at the Africa Cup of Nations.pic.twitter.com/GBfO865zVg
— Sam Street (@samstreetwrites) August 2, 2022
De Laurentiis proposed the ideas for a new European competition
De Laurentiis also criticised the ever-increasing fixture list and proposed an idea of European tournament between the top clubs from the five strongest nations around the continent as an alternative to the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League.
He added: “The world of football cannot self-manage because we do the puppet show for others … if we could play 100 games, it would be a happy ending for everyone and we [clubs] like cretins agree to that.”
Despite his proposal, which sounds an awful lot like a European Super League, De Laurentiis said he was completely against the idea of a breakaway league.
“You cannot create a super club of privileged members who invite others [to the league]. You need to democratically keep the door open for everyone.”
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