Title-chasing Napoli are mulling the option of heading to court to stop their African contingent led by Victor Osimhen from featuring at next month’s AFCON because of Coronavirus concerns.
Osimhen has declared himself ready for the AFCON, but his Italian club, who have slipped in the title race after a 1-0 shock home loss to lowly Spezia, are not keen to let him go as well as his teammates Khalidou Koulibaly (Senegal) and Zombo Anguissa (Cameroon).
Only 5% of the population in tournament Cameroon has been vaccinated against Coronavirus and many fear this competition could be a super spreader of the disease.
“Considering the epidemiological situation, there could be legal action, because this tournament takes away valuable resources from the clubs,” Napoli lawyer Mattia Grassani told CalcioNapoli24.
“It is a particular historic moment, so it would be different if we felt 99 per cent confident of the situation.
“The clubs invested a lot of money for signing players like Victor Osimhen, so if he were to become infected, that’d be tough to deal with.
“The first step would be legal action to prevent the call-up, then if there were concrete elements to sue because the health standards are not the same as in European competitions, then there could be more appeals to gain an exemption for Europe-based players.”
