The Confederation of African Football (Caf) will discuss the eligibility of players who undergo transfers during the African Nations Championship (Chan) ahead of the next competition.
The tournament is for African players based in their own domestic leagues.
The last three Chans have spanned January and February, so putting teams at risk of losing players during this month’s transfer window.
A player is ineligible to play at the Chan after joining a foreign club.
“The issue will be addressed before the kick-off of the next Chan qualifiers,” Caf Communications Director Junior Binyam told BBC Sport.
At this year’s finals, Morocco face the prospect of losing two key players after both Achraf Bencharki and Jawad El Yamiq were lining up transfers that need to go through by the deadline of 31 January.
Should the host nation beat Libya on Wednesday to reach the final on 4 February, they would be unable to use these players if their transfers go ahead – although El Yamiq’s move from Raja Casablanca to Genoa is now in doubt.
Bencharki, meanwhile, has agreed to leave African champions Wydad Casablanca for Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal Riyadh.
Caf regulations state that as well as being a citizen of the country, “only players with a permanent contract registered in a local club affiliated to their national association are eligible to participate in the African Nations Championship.”
When it comes to its youth tournaments, Caf sets a specific date that players have to be born after in order to qualify for a competition.
In the case of a cut-off point for the Chan, a date could be set prior to the start of a tournament for all players to be based in their homeland – following which transfers could be possible.
Earlier in this year’s Chan, Guinea launched an appeal over the eligibility of Sudan’s Elsmani Elsawi Saadeldin, who they claimed had signed for Libyan club Al Ittihad Tripoli in December.
Caf ruled that Saadeldin was eligible as he was still with his Sudanese club Al Merreikh at the time.
©BBC
