African football urges UK to give footballers travel exemption

Algeria's forward Riyad Mahrez (C) receives the trophy from Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Ahmad Ahmad (L) during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) Final football match between Senegal and Algeria at the Cairo International Stadium in Cairo on July 19, 2019. ( AFP)

The Confederation of African Football has appealed to the British government to grant exemptions to African footballers who are hoping to return to their home countries next week to compete in World Cup qualifiers.

The call follows the collective decision by the clubs of Premier League to refuse to release players headed to countries on the United Kingdom’s COVID-19 ‘red list’ because of the quarantine measures they would face on their return from international duty.