Arsenal legend Ian Wright and Patrick Vieira have said that the Africa Cup of Nation is highly disrespected.
Gunners stars Thomas Partey, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Nicolas Pepe and Mohamed Elneny are due to take place in the 2022 rendition of the tournament, which gets underway next month. Young defender Omar Rekik has also been called up by Tunisia.
Now, Wright has had his say on the media coverage of the competition, arguing that it deserves far more respect from neutrals.
"Is there ever a tournament more disrespected than the Africa Cup of Nations?" Wright said on his Instagram account.
"There is no greater honour than representing your country. The (media) coverage is completely tinged with racism.
"We played our Euros across 10 countries in the middle of a pandemic and there's no issue at all. But Cameroon, a single country hosting a tournament, is a problem.
"There are players getting asked if they will be honouring the call-ups to their national teams. Imagine if that was an England player representing the Three Lions. Can you imagine the furore?"
Wright's comments echo those of current Crystal Palace boss Vieira, who argued that the competition should be held in the same regard as the European Championships.
"I respect and understand the passion and the importance to players to go and represent their country so I will never stop any player going to play the Africa Cup of Nations," the Frenchman commented last week.
"I believe that competition needs to be more respected - because this competition is as important as the European Championships."
