A senior official at a top European club has now insisted that big teams on the continent "cannot have 15 African players" in their squad.
With the Africa Cup of Nations set to get underway on 13 January, some top officials in Europe have expressed their frustration with the tournament being held mid-season as opposed to at the end of the campaign.
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Although the competition is traditionally held during the months of June and July, the two previous editions have been staged between January and February, with the upcoming edition in Ivory Coast scheduled during these months due to weather conditions in the country.
Among those upset by the timing of Africa's biggest continental competition is Bayer Leverkusen CEO Fernando Carro and sporting director Simon Rolfes, with their side expected to lose five players next month due to their likely participation at AFCON.
The Bundesliga club is currently enjoying one of its best-ever starts to a season, topping the league table with 11 wins from 13 games, while their other two matches finished in draws.
Rolfes told German broadcaster DW: "The thing with the African Cup is for sure it is not ideal, but we would love to have the African Cup in [the European] summer, at the summer break between the seasons.
"I know that the players are proud to play for their country; I know that from my playing time, it was the same. And we are happy and proud that we have so many national team players representing their countries.
"We have to deal with this. We have a really good squad, and I think we can handle this situation, but it is not ideal. But in life, there are some situations where you have to deal with this, and we will do.
"... You cannot have 15 African players in your squad, and then in January, you do not have any players anymore."
Bayer defender Edmond Tapsoba believes the club will manage without their African contingent, though, as he looks forward to representing Burkina Faso at the tournament.
"For me as a footballer from Africa, the African Cup is a special competition," Tapsoba told DW.
"And even though we're leaving in January, we trust our teammates. Everybody is working hard, and you can see that the coach is trying to mix the line-up in every game. Everybody is ready to take their chance, so we're not so worried about it.
"For our generation, it is challenging because it is full of young talents. We are trying to do better than our [predecessors]. We are going to Ivory Coast to do better than the last time."
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