Former Inter striker Samuel Eto’o was scathing of the decision by a number of European clubs to block African players from joining up with their national teams during the upcoming international period.
Teams from across the continent have prevented their players from travelling to Africa in an effort to limit the risk of contracting COVID-19, including Inter, with wing-back Achraf Hakimi blocked from linking up with Morocco.
However, Cameroon international Eto’o claimed that this was discriminatory and suggested a radical approach to combat this, had he been the president of one of the national federations in Africa.
“The real problem with this pandemic is not in Africa,” the treble-winning striker declared in an interview with AfricaNews.com.
“When we look at the issue, we can see that the real problem is in Europe. At the moment we are depriving these players of being able to represent their national teams.
“If I were a president of one of the federations, I would take steps to prevent these players from playing for their clubs. I don’t want to get too involved in the matter though, now I am just a football fan,” Eto’o concluded.
The 40-year-old joined Inter from Barcelona in 2009 and went on to score 53 goals in 102 appearances for the Nerazzurri, helping the club to the Serie A title, Champions League and two Coppa Italia triumphs.
Eto’o represented Cameroon in four World Cups from 1998 to 2014 and won 118 caps for his country, scoring 56 goals.