Diaby out of African Nations Cup

Although Mali have yet to release a list of players for the African Nations Cup finals, Abdoulay Diaby has been ruled out of the tournament in Gabon with an injury. The 25-year-old striker was named at the end of last season as one of the top five African players in the leagues in Europe after helping Club Brugge to win the Belgian championship in April and his absence will come as a blow to Mali’s hopes. Diaby competed in the Champions League this season but was hurt in action against Porto last month and has not played since. He is only expected to be fit again at the end of January, Belgian press reports said. French-born Diaby has been a Mali international since 2014 and competed at the last Nations Cup finals in Equatorial Guinea where Mali were eliminated in the first round after a toss of the coin when they finished exactly equal with Guinea in their group.

Next month, Mali will compete in Group D in Port Gentil where they take on Egypt, Ghana and Uganda. Meanwhile, DR Congo Coach Florent Ibenge has named a strong 31-man provisional squad for January’s Africa Cup of Nations in Gabon. The main absentee is Everton winger Yannick Bolasie who is nursing a knee injury that ruled him out of the tournament. Bournemouth’s Benik Afobe who switched allegiance to the Leopards after having played for England Under-21 got a nod from Ibenge to play for his adopted country. DR Congo have been pooled in Group C alongside Morocco,Ivory Coast and Togo. Meanwhile, Defender, Yaovi Joseph Douhadji has been named in Togo’s provisional squad to compete at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Gabon. Douhadji who plays for Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) club, Rivers United is one of seven defenders called up by Togo national team head coach, Claude Leroy. The 22-year-old strongman now wants to go one better as he has now set his sights on making the final 23-man list for the tournament.