English Premier League club Watford FC is coming under fire after two African members of the squad have not been released for Africa Cup of Nations duty. Senegal winger Ismaïla Sarr is at the center of a club vs. country controversy after the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) announced that Watford had given them “spurious” reasons for refusing to let Sarr leave. Having not played since November for the English side due to a knee ligament injury, Watford supplied MRI scans to the FSF to show the extent of the damage to Sarr but it appears that the FSF will take up the case with FIFA.
Watford have also come under fire from the Nigeria Football Federation due to their refusal to release Nigeria forward Emmanuel Dennis. In this case, Watford claimed that Dennis was not called up before the necessary deadline to give the team notice. The Nigeria squad is not contesting the issue, having already replaced Dennis in the Super Eagles’ final squad.
