Africa Cup of Nations 2012: Should EPL Players Be Required to Attend?

Premier League players should never be required to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations because there are several clubs who lose valuable points in the table due to important players leaving England to participate in the African tournament.

January is already a hectic month in club football because of the transfer window, with players coming and going over the course of just a few weeks. With many African players leaving the country, there are teams that lose important depth, and sometimes these losses can prove costly.

This season, there are a few clubs that will be hurt by stars leaving for the Africa Cup of Nations, and two of those clubs are Newcastle and Queens Park Rangers.

Newcastle are tied with Arsenal for fifth in the league table and are just four points behind Chelsea for the fourth and final spot for Champions League qualification next season.

Striker Demba Ba will leave the club to join Senegal in the AFCON this month, which is a massive loss for Newcastle. His 15 league goals rank second in England, only three behind Arsenal's Robin van Persie for the lead. Nobody else on the club has more than four league goals.

In a crucial time of the season, Newcastle will be without their best player and most reliable goal scorer. This loss could have a massive impact on the club's performance, and they could easily drop crucial points in the table and fail to have a chance at a top-four finish.

QPR will lose Armand Traore and Adel Taarabt to the AFCON, and these are two of the club's best players. QPR has just 17 points and are currently sitting in the relegation zone, one point ahead of Bolton Wanderers and two ahead of Wigan Athletic at the bottom.

Not having Traore and Taarabt could cost the team points that would prevent them from climbing out of the drop zone. Going back to the Championship would be a major setback for a club who was just promoted to the top flight this year.

African players should not be required to play in the AFCON, and the tournament itself should not take place in January, because there is so much going on in the month for club teams.

Premier League clubs suffer every season because important players leave England to play in this event, and these key losses can have huge consequences towards the end of the season when clubs are fighting for position in the table.

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