AFCON 2025 release-date confusion: will Premier League stars leave on December 8 or 15?Sunderland hit hardest with 7 call upsAFCON 2025 release-date confusion: will Premier League stars leave on December 8 or 15?A late twist has emerged in the build up to AFCON 2025 as confusion grows around the official release date for African internationals.FIFA’s circulars sent to clubs & federations confirm that players must be released by 8 December 2025 exactly two week before the tournament kicks off in Morocco on 21 December.But parallel reporting in England including Sky Sports Keith Downie indicates that FIFA has privately allowed clubs to keep their AFCON players until 15 December, just seven day before the opening match.If implemented that concession would not remove the disruption but it would soften the impact for Premier League teams navigating the most intense month of the season.🚨 EXCL: Sunderland’s SEVEN AFCON players are set to be available for the Wear-Tyne derby next weekend. 🌍 FIFA has informed clubs that they will be able to retain players selected for AFCON until December 15. ⚽️ High-flying Sunderland host Newcastle the day before, December… pic.twitter.com/q5vnHBHsOH— Keith Downie (@SkySports_Keith) December 1, 2025Who loses the most? Sunderland & Wolves lead the AFCON exodusAccording to breakdowns from ESPN & FourFourTwo, AFCON 2025 will touch almost every club in the Premier League.Sunderland – 7 playerThe league’s surprise package also becomes England’s biggest AFCON exporter. Expected call-ups include:Bertrand Traore (Burkina Faso)Arthur Masuaku & Noah Sadiki (DR Congo)Simon Adingra (Ivory Coast)Chemsdine Talbi (Morocco)Reinildo (Mozambique)Habib Diarra (Senegal)Wolves – 5 playerJackson Tchatchoua (Cameroon)Emmanuel Agbadou (Ivory Coast)Tolu Arokodare (Nigeria)Zimbabwe duo Marshall Munetsi & Tawanda Chirewa may all travelThe chasing pack: United, Fulham, Burnley, Forest, PalaceManchester United – 3 playerBryan Mbeumo (Cameroon)Amad Diallo (Ivory Coast)Noussair Mazraoui (Morocco)New coach Ruben Amorim has already warned the club about December & January AFCON crunch.Fulham – 3 playerAlex Iwobi (Nigeria)Calvin Bassey (Nigeria)Chukwueze headline Nigeria’s optionsBurnley – 4 playerAxel Tuanzebe (DRC)Lyle Foster (South Africa)Hannibal Mejbri (Tunisia)Crystal Palace – up to 4Ismaïla Sarr (Senegal)Cheick Doucouré (Mali)Chadi Riad (Morocco)Christantus Uche (Nigeria)Nottingham Forest – up to 4Ibrahim Sangaré (Ivory Coast)Willy Boly (Ivory Coast)Taiwo Awoniyi & Ola Aina (Nigeria)Title contenders: affected but less severelyManchester City – 2 playerRayan Ait-Nouri (Algeria)Omar Marmoush (Egypt)Liverpool – 1 playerAll focus remains on Mohamed Salah, with Egyptian media suggesting he could miss six to eight match if Egypt reach the latter stages.Liverpool are pushing to delay his release until the very last minute.Tottenham – 2 playerPape Matar Sarr (Senegal)possibly Yves Bissouma (Mali)West Ham – 2 playerWan-Bissaka (DR Congo)potentially Malick Diouf (Senegal)The rest of the leagueAston Villa: Evann Guessand (Ivory Coast)Brighton: Carlos Baleba (Cameroon)Brentford: Dango Ouattara (Burkina Faso), Frank Onyeka (Nigeria)Everton: Iliman Ndiaye & Idrissa Gueye (Senegal), Adam Aznou (Morocco) a possible call upBournemouth: Amine Adli (Morocco)Newcastle: Yoane Wissa (DR Congo), fitness permittingMeanwhile, Arsenal, Chelsea & Leeds United currently have no AFCON internationals in their first-team squads.What the December 15 leeway actually changes?If the strict 8 December release date applies, AFCON bound players will miss four to six domestic match depending on club fixtures.But the bottom line remains unchanged:
