Manchester United bosses were left ‘frustrated’ and issued an appeal to FIFA after Ruben Amorim was forced to be without Noussair Mazraoui against Bournemouth.
Within the build-up to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, FIFA really useful that each one players chosen for the tournament ought to be released by their respective clubs at the least seven days before their opening match.
Morocco, this yr’s host nation, begin their AFCON campaign against Comoros on December 21, just six days after United’s clash with Bournemouth took place.
Given the relatively short time frame between the 2 games, the Moroccan FA decided to dam Mazraoui from featuring within the eight-goal thriller at Old Trafford.
Mazraoui would have been given the green light had the fixture not moved right into a television broadcast slot on Monday evening.
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Based on ESPN, United had been planning to call upon Mazraoui before their initial request was rejected by Morocco and the Red Devils subsequently escalated the matter to FIFA.
Nonetheless, FIFA supported Morocco’s stance because it aligned with their pre-tournament guidance.
The report claims United’s hierarchy feel they were ‘unfairly punished’ after their Premier League fixture was moved to Monday – a choice that was ultimately out of their control.
Mazraoui had been training as usual with the remainder of Amorim’s squad last week and remained ‘skilled’ and respectful’ throughout the disagreement together with his club and country.
The 28-year-old defender, formerly of Bayern Munich and Ajax, is known to have departed for international duty on Sunday night.
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Bryan Mbeumo and Amad Diallo each played key roles against Bournemouth after United held positive discussions about their involvement with Cameroon and the Ivory Coast respectively.
The 2 forwards – and Mazraoui – might be unavailable for United’s return to Premier League motion away to third-placed Aston Villa this weekend.
Casemiro may even miss the trip to Villa Park after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season within the 4-4 draw with Bournemouth.
‘It’s a chance for everybody, we’ll be ready for the challenge,’ Amorim said of the challenge that awaits his squad over the winter period.
‘We already knew that would occur to any team. Numerous teams are going to lose players, a whole lot of teams have injuries and we’d like to only go into the subsequent game with the responsibility to win the sport, to fight.
‘We’ll try to seek out other ways of making possibilities and scoring goals.’
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