The Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) has lashed out  President of Italian Serie A side Napoli for his remarks about signing African players and the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON).

Aurelio de Laurentiis who is the President of Napoli says that he would not sign African Players because they will leave for AFCON midway through the season whiles their  European clubs still pay them.

"Enough of African players or they should give up playing in the African Cup of Nations. I won't be buying them anymore for this reason," De Laurentiis told a Wall Street Italia show.

CAF has in a  statement as slammed the Napoli  President and asked  UEFA to sanction.

Full statement below:

CAF is appalled by the irresponsible and unacceptable remarks made by Napoli President, Mr. Aurelio De Laurentiis on African players and the Africa Cup of Nations.

By publicly declaring that players who sign for Napoli must sign a waiver denouncing participation in the Africa Cup of Nations as a condition of employment, De Laurentiis’ comments are likely to fall under Article 14 of the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations. CAF, therefore, urges UEFA to initiate a disciplinary investigation against him.

CAF is committed to the role that football plays in Africa, Europe, North and South America, Asia, and globally in bringing together and uniting people of different cultures, language groups, races, ethnic groups, and religious backgrounds.

We have no doubt that Napoli and UEFA are as committed as CAF is to these global humanitarian objectives.

Are we to assume that the Chairman of Napoli is going to include similar restrictive conditions to players from South America, Asia, and other Confederations prohibiting them from playing in their Continental competitions which are important for the development and growth of football globally?

The African Cup of Nations is the flagship competition of the African continent and one of the leading global football competitions. Its last edition in Cameroon was shown in more than 160 countries and attracted more than 600 million viewers.