Athletic Bilbao have officially announced that Inaki Williams has been extended an invitation and is set to join the Black Stars on Monday, January 1, 2024, to commence preparations for the upcoming tournament.
Consequently, Inaki Williams will mark his debut at the Africa Cup of Nations, having successfully secured a spot in Ghana’s squad for the competition in Ivory Coast, pending his inclusion in Chris Hughton’s 27-man squad.
Although Bilbao were hoping to keep the striker for Thursday’s game against Sevilla, the 29-year-old will not be available for the top clash.
“On Monday morning, Inaki Williams will travel to join up with the Black Stars as they begin preparations for the Africa Cup of Nations, which starts on January 13,” an official statement on the club’s website read.
“Despite Athletic Club and the player making efforts for him to be available for the Lions’ La Liga clash with Sevilla on January 4, the Ghanaian football association has decided to call up Inaki at the same time as the rest of his international teammates.”
The Black Stars kick off their AFCON campaign in Group B against Cape Verde before taking on Egypt and Mozambique.
The 34th edition of the African Cup of Nations, which is organized by the Confederation of African Football, is set to take place in 2023. Ivory Coast will be hosting the tournament for the second time, with the first time being in 1984.
Originally, this edition of the tournament was planned to be the third one since 2019 to be held during the summer of the Northern Hemisphere. The purpose of this scheduling was to avoid conflicts with European club teams and competitions.
However, due to concerns about adverse weather conditions in Ivory Coast during the summer, CAF decided to postpone the tournament.
The new dates for the tournament are January 13 to February 11, 2024. Despite the schedule change, the tournament will still retain its original name for sponsorship purposes. This decision follows a similar move for the 2021 edition in Cameroon, which was also rescheduled to the winter season of the Northern Hemisphere.
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