The upcoming AFCON will present a selection headache for managers across the globe. Numerous clubs could be deprived of key players during their various domestic league programmes for up to a month because of the tournament.

Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has made clear his dissatisfaction over losing Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Naby Keita for a number of crucial Premier League matches in January, but at least the Anfield chief only has a trio of absentees to deal with.

Frederic Antonetti, boss of relegation-threatened Ligue 1 outfit Metz, faces losing up to eight first-team players due to AFCON - and he's far from happy about it.

Speaking after his side drew 1-1 at Lyon on Wednesday, Antonetti launched into a rant about the scheduling of the tournament, insisting that such decisions lead to football becoming "rigged" and "distorted". 

"The AFCON takes seven or eight players from us. That’s enormous. It’s a rigged, distorted game," blasted Antonetti per a report from L'Equipe, via Get French Football News.

AFCON timing branded "not workable"

"How can we have international competitions during national competitions? It’s not workable."

Antonetti's frustration is understandable when you consider that he is set to lose six players from his starting XI against Lyon, including captain Dylan Bronn and goalscorer Boubacar Traoré.

"I have nothing against the AFCON, it’s a very good event, but you can’t remove that many players from a team. And we’re not the only ones."

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Originally, the tournament had been set to take place in the summer, before organisers deemed it unwise to play in the blistering June heat of Cameroon - and moved it back to its more traditional January slot. This, too, was something that Antonetti took issue with.

"When we built our squad, the AFCON was set to be played in June but they’ve changed the rules.

"When I say it’s rigged, everything is rigged in football... It’s a shame because everything is distorted and rigged and the AFCON is part of it, VAR is part of it, the pressure is part of it."

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Metz's AFCON contingent could miss as many as four Ligue 1 fixtures while representing their countries. Under normal circumstances, three of those matches (against Strasbourg, Reims and Troyes) would be encounters that Antonetti would likely give his side a fair chance of taking something from.

With their squad decimated by international call-ups, however, Metz could struggle severely. Already in the bottom three, the AFCON couldn't be coming at a worse time for Antonetti. 

For Metz, the competition could genuinely prove the difference as to whether or not they play in the French top-flight next season. 

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