Fifa president Gianni Infantino has suggested that the Africa Cup of Nations should be played between September and November as part of any revised international match schedule.

Football’s world governing body is proposing an overhaul of international football, including the World Cup being played every two years rather than four.

Traditionally, the Nations Cup was played in January and February but it took place in June and July when Egypt hosted in 2019.

Next month’s finals in Cameroon reverted to the beginning of the year due to concerns about the weather, a long-standing reason why the tournament has seldom been played in June-July.

“If we can streamline the calendar and make sure that an Africa Cup of Nations could be played as part of a longer international window in the autumn, then I think we would have already achieved something quite important,” Infantino said.

Follow-up communication with Fifa confirmed that ‘autumn’ was referring to any time between September and November in a calendar year.

However, Fifa is working on the idea of having at least two extended windows each year, so that confederations have the option of hosting their tournament at different times of the year because of weather conditions.

“[This would mean] less disruption for so many leagues who have players of African nationality.

“A few years ago, no one cared if the Africa Cup of Nations was played in January and February – more or less,” Infantino, 51, claimed.

“Today it is becoming an issue because in January and February many leagues in Europe, in particular but also in other parts of the world where African players are playing, are in the middle of their competition and they have to release these players.”

Club-versus-country rows have preceded the build-up to many Nations Cup in recent years, as a host of Europe-based coaches have hit out at the timing of the competition.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) moved the timing of the tournament in 2017 in order to avoid this issue, only to have to switch back for Cameroon 2021.

Following Monday’s Fifa meeting, Infantino also highlighted the fact that moving to a biennial World Cup would offer more chances for African nations to host the tournament in the future.

Uefa, famous major leagues and South American football’s governing body Comebol have opposed the plans while Caf has given its backing.

Ghana head coach Milovan Rajevac has named a preliminary 30-man squad for the Africa Cup of Nations, holding in Cameroon in 18 days time.

The Serbian trainer released his squad for the upcoming tournament on Tuesday during a press conference at the Ghana Football Association.

Top stars Thomas Teye Partey, Andre Ayew, Jordan Ayew and Daniel Amartey have been named in the squad which will be trimmed to 28 before the start of the tournament.

AS Roma youngster Felix Afena-Gyan has also been named alongside 2021 Africa U20 Championship best player Abdul Fatawu Issahaku made the cut for the AFCON.

Salis Abdul Samed, Khalid Abdul Mumin, Ghana Premier League leading top scorer David Abagna Sandan, Maxwell Nii Abbey Quaye have earned their maiden national team invitations.

The Black Stars will be making their 23rd appearance where they have won the championship it four times in 1963, 1965, 1978 and 1982.

The home-based players will leave Ghana for Qatar on Wednesday 22 December 2022 to continue preparations for the next month’s tournament.

The Black Stars will play a local club, one other country and African champions Algeria in friendlies while camping in the Middle East.

Provisional Squad:

GOALKEEPERS: Joseph Wolacott (Swindon Town, England), Abdul Manaf Nurudeen (Eupen, Belgium), Richard Attah (Hearts of Oak), Lawrence Ati Zigi (St. Gallen, Switzerland)

DEFENDERS: Andy Yiadom (Reading FC, England), Philemon Baffuor (Dreams FC), Baba Abdul Rahman (Reading FC, england), Gideon Mensah (Girondins de Bordeaux, France), Daniel Amartey (Leicester City, England), Alexander Djiku (Strasbourg FC, France), Jonathan Mensah (Columbus Crew, USA), Khalid Abdul Mumin (Vitoria de Guimaraes, Portugal)

MIDFIELDERS: Baba Iddrissu (Real Mallorca, Spain), Edmund Addo (Sherif Tiraspol, Moldova), Thomas Teye Partey (Arsenal, England), Mubarak Wakaso (Shenzhen, China), Mohammed Kudus (Ajax Amsterdam, Netherlands), Daniel Kofi Kyere (St. Pauli, Germany), David Abagna (Real Tamale United), Salis Abdul Samed (Clermont Foot, France)

FORWARDS: Abdul Fatawu Issahaku (Dreams FC), Samuel Owusu (Al-Fayha, Saudi Arabia), Kamal Deen Suleymana (Rennes, France), Dede Ayew (Al Sadd, Qatar), Joseph Paintsil (Genk, Belgium), Jordan Ayew (Crystal Palace, England), Richmond Boakye Yiadom (Beitar Jerusalem, Israel), Maxwell Abbey Quaye (Great Olympics), Felix Afena Gyan (AS Roma, Italy), Benjamin Tetteh (Malatyaspor, Turkey)

AS Roma midfielder Ebrima Darboe, who made a perilous journey as a child migrant from Africa across the Mediterranean by boat, has been included in Gambia’s squad for next month’s Africa Cup of Nations.

Darboe, 20, debuted in Serie A last season after arriving as a 14-year-old boat refugee in Sicily, and is among four players from top flight Italian clubs who headline the 28-man squad for Gambia’s debut appearance at the continental championship.

Bologna’s Musa Barrow, Omar Colley of Sampdoria and Spezia winger Ebrima Colley are also all expected to be starters at the tournament in Cameroon.

Coach Tom Saintfiet on Wednesday named an eclectic mix of players, including several from clubs in the lower leagues in England, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland.

There are two English-born players in the squad — Ebou Adams (Forest Green Rovers) and Ibou Touray (Salford City) – plus Swiss-born Saidy Janko, who was at Manchester United and Celtic but now plays for Real Valladolid, and made his Gambia debut last month.

The squad also includes Dembo Darboe, top scorer in Belarus this year for new champions Shakhtyor Soligorsk, and Modou Barrow, who played in the Premier League while at Swansea City but is now in South Korea.

Gambia have been drawn in Group F at the Cup of Nations finals and start against Mauritania on Jan. 12. They also have Mali and Tunisia in their group.

CAF Champions League champions, Al Ahly, have beaten Raja Casablanca on penalties to win their second consecutive CAF Super Cup under Pitso Mosimane.

The 2022 CAF Super Cup took place between Champions League winners Al Ahly and Moroccan giants Raja Casablanca, who were crowned as Confederation Cup champions, in Doha, Qatar.

Entering the game as favourites, Mosimane’s men were dealt a heavy blow just before the start of the game after their key midfielder Amr El-Sulya picked up an injury and had to be replaced with Yasser Ibrahim.

This changed Al Ahly’s starting XI to be as follows:

Mohamed El-Shennawy; Badr Benoun, Ayman Ashraf, Hamdy Fathi Ali Maaloul; Amr El-Sulya, Aliou Dieng, Akram Tawfik; Mohamed Magdy Afsha, Hussein El-Shahat, Percy Tau.

Raja’s XI: Anas Zniti; Abdelilah Madkour, Marouane Hadhoudi, Jamal Harkass, Abdeljalil Jbira; Fabrice Ngoma, Zakaria El Wardi, Mohsen Metwally, Abdelilah Hafidi, Mahmoud Benhalib; Hamid Ahadad.

The Red Devils entered the game on the strong foot, dominating the first 10 minutes of the game; however, it was the Moroccans who managed to break the deadlock through Zamalek loanee Hamid Ahdaad.

In the 13th minute, right back Abdelilah Madkour led Raja Casablanca’s counter-attack, before his cross inside the penalty area couldn’t be cleared by Yasser Ibrahim for Ahaddad to tap it in to give Raja an early lead.

Al Ahly tried to respond quickly, and just three minutes later Maaloul sent a cross inside the penalty area, which was cleared away by the keeper before the rebound was met by El-Shahat, but the keeper was there once again to deny the Reds a quick equaliser.

Apart from these two chances, neither side created any more clear-cut chances in the remaining minutes of the first half as Raja parked the bus and watched the Reds passing the ball around.

It was after the half-time when Al Ahly became more aggressive towards the goal, especially after Mosimane brought on striker Mohamed Sherif for defender Ayman Ashraf.

The Reds, therefore, imposed their pressure and style of play to try and snatch a quick equalizer after the break and this became even more clear when El-Shahat was brought off for Ahmed Abdelkader.

Sherif and Abdelkader changed the pace of the game and this resulted in Al Ahly’s first real chance of the game when Mohamed Magdy Afsha found the ball on the edge of the box, but his long-range effort was caught by Zniti.

Al Ahly then had a penalty shout after Percy Tau’s cross clearly hit Marouane Hadhoudi’s hand, but the referee refused to go consult the VAR.

In the 77th minute, Mosimane made his last substitution when he brought on Taher Mohamed Taher for Yasser Ibrahim, before Percy Tau going through on goal after a ball from Mohamed Sherif, but the South African’s effort went wide.

And as Raja thought they clinched the title, the Red Devils’ pressure proved to be fruitful as they finally managed to score the equalizer in the 90th minute through Taher Mohamed.

Mohamed Sherif found Afsha inside the penalty box but the latter’s shot was parried away by the keeper, but Tau was there for the follow-up, but instead of shooting, he took a more unselfish route and passed it to the open Taher Mohamed Taher, who made it 1-1.

Al Ahly tried to find the winner in the remaining few minutes, but there wasn’t enough time as the game was sent to penalty shootouts.

Al Ahly scored their five initial attempts through Ali Maaloul, Badr Benoun, Percy Tau, Mohamed Abdelkader, and Taher Mohamed, and the same happened for Raja, who scored through Mohamed Zrida, Zakaria El-Wardi, Marouane Hadhoudi, Mahmoud Benhalib, and Mohsen Metwally.

This meant that the cup will be decided with sudden death, in which Akram Tawfik stepped up to take the sixth penalty and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to give his side an advantage.

Raja’s left-back Abdelilah Madkour was the one to take Raja’s final penalty but his shot went way wide and was unable to hit the target, handing Al Ahly their eighth Super Cup.

Not only Al Ahly have lifted the Super Cup for a record eighth time, but they have reached their 25th international trophy, sitting just one behind European giants Real Madrid.

Moreover, Pitso Mosimane has become the first Al Ahly manager to win the CAF Champions League and the CAF Super Cup for two successive times since Manuel Jose in 2007.