'With all due respect' — Iwobi discusses picking between Fulham and Nigeria when AFCON starts

Nigerian midfielder Alex Iwobi stated unequivocally that he intended to play for the Nigerian Super Eagles at the AFCON despite conflicting commitments with Fulham. 

The timing of the AFCON is one of the most contentious topics in global football conversations, as unlike most international tournaments that are held in the summer—offseason, the unique weather conditions in Africa sometimes require the Cup of Nations to be held in the December/January period. 

This creates a serious headache for many European clubs with African players, as that period is one of the most demanding in a league campaign, and they have to navigate it while understaffed. 

Fulham are one of the clubs that will suffer from this unique problem when the AFCON kicks off in December, as their Player of the Season, Calvin Bassey, and top midfielder, Iwobi, will be with the Super Eagles in Morocco for the tournament. 

Iwobi was asked about this during an in-depth interview with The Guardian, and he refused to even entertain it as a dilemma, stating that the AFCON would be his priority during that period. 

“It’s not nice for us [to have to choose],” he said. “But with all due respect to Fulham, I would like to go to the AFCON.”

Nigeria’s AFCON journey will begin on December 23 when they play Tanzania, but the likes of Iwobi would have had to leave their respective clubs for camp days before kickoff. The Super Eagles' other games in the group will come against Tunisia on December 27 and Uganda on the 30th.