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Egypt midfielder, Emam Ashour has singled out four teams for praise ahead of his side’s 2025 Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, Round of clash with the Benin Republic on Monday.

The teams are Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco.

According to Ashour, the aforementioned teams have top players and coaches.

Speaking to CAFOnline, the Al Ahly star stated that it is natural for Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia to always reach the AFCON Round of 16 stage.

“Teams are performing at a high level, and there are no longer any weak sides. The group-stage results clearly show that,” Ashour said.

“Football in Africa is developing for the better, and it is only natural for big teams like Egypt, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia to reach the Round of 16, as they have top coaches and top players.”

AFCON: They’ve top players – Egypt midfielder, Ashour singles out four teams

Everton head coach David Moyes says the Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON, must be respected by European clubs.

The scheduling of the tournament has constantly caused friction between European clubs and participating countries.

The two parties are always at loggerheads over the release of players for the biennial competition.

FIFA recently ruled that clubs should release players just one week before the upcoming 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.

The directive was contrary to the earlier mandatory two weeks release date for players.

Moyes, who will be without two key players, Idrissa Gueye and Iliman Ndiaye, during the tournament, however said players must not be stopped from participating.

“We have to respect completely the Africa Cup of Nations,” Moyes told a press conference on Friday.

“The players will go to play in the tournament for their countries, and rightly so. It’s a great thing they get selected for their countries, and we hope they do well.”

We have to respect AFCON — Everton boss Moyes

The Nigeria Football Federation, NFF, has issued a stern warning to match officials across the domestic football scene.

NFF said tougher measures were imminent to curb the surge in controversial decisions across the country’s domestic leagues.

The warning was issued during the NFF Executive Committee meeting held in Abuja.

The federation expressed “deep disappointment” with the performance of referees in the Nigeria Premier Football League, NPFL, Nigeria National League, NNL, Nigeria Women Football League, NWFL, and Nationwide League One, NLO.

It stated that disciplinary actions, retraining programmes and stricter monitoring would be introduced to restore integrity and professionalism in Nigerian football.

“We are out to fight incompetence, collusion and any manipulation that undermines the credibility of our competitions,” NFF was quoted by Newstap.

“Stronger measures are on the way, and any official found compromising the game will face decisive consequences.”

NFF warns referees of sanctions over poor officiating