France, March 19 -- Bosses of the top French professional clubs have joined together to stop their players leaving Europe to feature in qualifiers for the 2022 Africa Cup of Nations because they will have to undergo a week's quarantine when they come back.

The last two qualifiers are scheduled between 24 and 30 March for the tournament in Cameroon next January.

However,the presidents of the 40 sides in Ligue 1 and League 2 have opted to play hardball.

They say they will make use of a rule from world football's governing body Fifa which allows clubs to prevent their stars from going to their national teams if the anti-coronavirus quarantine period on their return is more than five days.

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"In the absence of a seven-day exemption for...