Africa Cup of Nations moves

from January to June and

Cameroon celebrate winning Nations Cup

Premier League clubs receive major boost

Premier League managers will be breathing a huge sigh of relief

after the Confederation of African Football revealed that the Cup of

Nations will become a summer event from 2019.

The biennial tournament has been traditionally held in January and

February, often causing major headaches for managers across Europe,

who have had to release players for international duty in the

middle of the season.

CAF have also announced that the tournament in Cameroon in

two years time will be expanded to include 24 teams, instead of 16.

Sadio Mane was one of 21 Premier League players to compete

at AFCON this year

The competition will continue to be held every two years, and

exclusively held in Africa, canning plans to take it abroad to

China and Qatar.

At this year's AFCON, won by Cameroon in Gabon, 21 Premier

League players from 12 clubs participated.

Sunderland, Stoke and Leicester were the most highly represented,

losing three players each during the period.

The changes were finalised by the CAF executive committee

in the Moroccan capital Rabat on Thursday.

Arsenal's Mohamed Elneny celebrates scoring for Egypt in

the final against Cameroon

The news comes as a welcome boost for Premier League managers

who have long had to contend with losing vital members of

their squad at one of the busiest points of the season.

Liverpool lost ground in their push for the title last season when

Sadio Mane joined up with his Senegal team-mates, failing to

win a single league game in his enforced absence and being

knocked out of both cup competitions.

The Reds also became embroiled in a tug of war with FIFA

over the availability of Joel Matip, who was called up to Cameroon's

squad despite having retired from international duty in 2015.

Jurgen Klopp was forced to withdraw the centre back from a

1-1 draw against Manchester United in January amid

confusion over his eligibility.