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Jurgen Klopp admits frustration at Matip AFCON saga

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Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has admitted that he has been left frustrated by FIFA as the saga over the availability of Joel Matip for the African Cup of Nations goes on.

Matip retired from international football in 2015, but was called up to the Cameroon squad for the tournament, which has just got underway.

FIFA rules state that clubs face sanctions, including fines and even points deductions, for not releasing players for international duty.

Klopp did not select Matip for Sunday’s draw at Manchester United as a precautionary measure. Yet me has not received any clarification from FIFA regarding whether Matip is eligible for club duty.

The German is simply seeking an answer, so he knows for sure whether he can select Matip or not, to avoid a potential sanction.

He admitted his frustration, saying: ‘I don’t want to blame anybody, our supporters deserve to know the process we are in.

‘The thing is, in this moment, we are sure – we do not think – we did nothing wrong. We are sure Joel Matip did nothing wrong. He did not play for Cameroon since 2015.

‘Since he was here, he not a Cameroon national player. He is in this moment not in the squad of Cameroon, so he could not play for sure for Cameroon. But we have no 100 per cent guarantee he could play for us. That is how it is.

‘The last few weeks we were getting more and more busy for all the departments for LFC and the procedure is that I would consider to line him up tomorrow but I am not sure if I can. From a sport side, it makes perfect sense.

‘FIFA told us on Friday – last Friday – they will decide next Friday – this Friday – if they will open a case about it or not. I accept rules in life, that I don’t know or wherever, but I think they should always be based on human sense. I am not a lawyer or a legal person, so it is pretty difficult.’

By Steve Osborne         @BlizzardSteve75

 

 

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