Liverpool defender Joel Matip is now liberated! The club officially confirmed today FIFA have dismissed all charges against the club and Joel Matip. An excerpt from the statement on the Liverpool FC official website reads:
The club had requested FIFA to provide guidance on Matip’s eligibility after a complaint had been made by FECAFOOT to FIFA concerning the player’s purported call-up to the Cameroon national team for the Africa Cup of Nations.
Following FIFA’s ruling, the club now considers the player available for selection.
The long drawn out situation was creating tension and drama, and it caused Matip to miss Wednesday’s FA Cup win over Plymouth Argyle and Sunday’s draw with Manchester United.
The 25-year-old defender has been at odds with his country’s national team for years. It appears that the Reds will now be without his services for a month, due to FIFA protocols. In 2015, Matip made it abundantly clear that he was retiring from international football, and that he would decline any future call-up.
Unfortunately, Cameroon never filed the necessary paper work which would make him eligible to play club ball during the Africa Cup of Nations.
Liverpool FC have been trying for months with FIFA to get this resolved, and today they finally have closure. Huzzah!
Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp can now truly have no anxiety about breaking the FIFA rules when he fields Joel Matip within a team.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, Bold and the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication, appears regularly as a guest on CGTN America, WGN CLTV News and KOZN 1620 The Zone.
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