ECA PLAYER RELEASE ANALYSIS CAN 2013 2 Table of Contents Executive Summary p.4 Foreword p.5 Highlights p.6 Club origin of the players p.7 Top 10 most represented European National Championship s p. 8 Top 5 most represented Championships (outside Europe) p.8 Most represented European clubs p.8 African players playing in Europe p.9 European club s represented p.12 ECA clubs represented p.13 European club representation in African teams (%) p.14 Average age within the African teams p.15 Top 3 NAs in number of players by Age Category p.17 Annexe 1: Comparison with statistics of CAN 2012 & 2010 p.1 8 ECA PLAYER RELEASE ANALYSIS CAN 2013 3 Executive Summary For years, Africa is the provider of some of the most important players in European football. In 2010 ECA published its first Research Facts & Key figures CAN 2010 which highlighted the importance of African players registered in one of the European National Championships. The second Research Facts & Key figures CAN 2012 showed a slight decrease due to the fact that National teams of Cameroon, Nigeria, Togo, Benin were not qualified for the 2012 edition (teams with more than 60% of players playing in Europe). The 2013 Edition confirmed the trend of the 2010 Edition with the majority of players playing with clubs in Europe. The 2013 CAN figures show that 188 players out of 368 ( 51.1% ) are playing in one of 26 European National Championships. Nevertheless the clubs from the “BIG 5” countries * released less players ** (27.2% comparing to 38.1% in 2010). Looking at the Top 20 clubs in Europe only 15 players were released to the CAN. Whereas more than 20% of the players were registered in France in 2010, figures of the CAN 2013 shows that this figures dropped to just less than 15%. Interestingly there is no player under 18, compared to 4.08% in the 2010 edition, and only less than 8% of players under 21, compared to the 18.48% of the 2010 edition. This ECA research highlights again the trend in the importance of European clubs and their contribution to the CAN 2013. The results are based on a research conducted on the basis of the official list of CAN players of the 9 th January 2013 (updated). * England, Spain, Germany, Italy, France ** UEFA Club Ranking 2013 available on http://www.ecaeurope.com/tabbed-content/club-ranking/ ECA PLAYER RELEASE ANALYSIS CAN 2013 4 Foreword The Coupe d’Afrique des Nations (CAN) / African Cup of Nations is the main international football competition in Africa. It is organised by the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF), and the first edition was held in 1957. Since 1968, it has been held every two years in the months of January/February. Nevertheless, as from now on, the tournament will switch to being held in odd-numbered years so that it does not clash with the World Cup and the Euro. This 29 th edition is hosted in South Africa 1 from the 19 th of January to 10 th of February 2013. Games will be played in Durban - Moses Mabhida Stadium, Johannesburg - Soccer City, Nelspruit - Mbombela Stadium, Port Elizabeth - Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and Rustenburg - Royal Bafokeng Stadium. Out of 56 countries belonging to the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF), 14 have previously won the competition. Egypt is the record title holder having won the CAN 7 times. The 2013 participants are: Group A Group B Group C Group D South Africa Ghana Zambia Côte d'Ivoire Angola Mali Nigeri a Tunisia Morocco Niger Burkina Faso Algeria Cape Verde Congo DR Ethiopia Togo 1 The 29 th edition was originally scheduled in Libya but a decision from the CAF decided to move the competition to South Africa ECA PLAYER RELEASE ANALYSIS CAN 2013 5 Highlights 9 National Teams qualified for the 2013 CAN participated in the previous edition in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon. 137 European clubs in total from UEFA Member Associations are involved in the release of players (including 50 ECA Members), an increase of 14.2% in comparison to the 2012 edition. One player out of 2 (51.1%) participating at the CAN (188 players from a total of 368) currently plays in one of the European National Championships, an increase of +5.0% in comparison to the 2012 edition. 27.2% (100) of the players play in France, Spain, Germany, England, or Italy, a decrease of -9.8% comparing to 2012 edition. 21 players out of 23 (91.3%) of the first ranked African National team Côte d’Ivoire play in Europe, followed by Cape Verde with 20 players. Only one player From Ethiopia is playing in Europe. The rest of the team, with the exception of one player playing in the MLS (United States) and one playing in Egypt, plays in the Ethiopian Premier League. The highest figure amongst African National Championship is the Premier Soccer South African League (PSL) with 26 players. 55 National Championships are represented for the 2013 CAN. A number of players play in leagues from Qatar, the People’s Republic of China, Vietnam and the United Arab Emirates. ECA PLAYER RELEASE ANALYSIS CAN 2013 6 Club origin of the players Amongst the 368 registered players, 188 players play in one of the European domestic Championships, 155 players play in one of the African National Championships (CAF), 18 players play in Asian leagues (AFC), 1 player plays in North America (CONCACAF), 1 player plays in South America (CONMEBOL) and 5 are free agents. Source : ECA/CAF (Europe 51.36%, Africa 42.12%, Asia 4.62%, South America 0.27%, North America 0.27%, Free agents 1.36%) ECA PLAYER RELEASE ANALYSIS CAN 2013 7 Top 10 most represented European National Championships 27.2% (100 players ) of the tournament players play in the so called “BIG 5” leagues, namely France, England, Spain, Italy or Germany. Traditionally, the highest number of the players playing in Europe plays in the French National Championship (15.0%). Players Country of the Championship 55 France 20 England 18 Portugal 12 Spain 11 Belgium 10 Turkey 9 Italy 7 Netherlands 6 Cyprus Russia 5 Israel 4 Germany Sweden Top 5 most represented National Championships (outside Europe) 26 players from 5 National Associations participating at CAN play in the Premier Soccer South African League (PSL) Players Country of the Champ ionship 26 South Africa 20 Ethiopia 18 Tunisia 15 Congo DR 10 Algeria Morocco Most represented European clubs Evian Thonon Gaillard FC, AC Ajaccio and Stade Brestois 29 released the highest number of players in Europe with 5. For the CAN 2012, 7 French clubs released 4 players each (see comparison in Annexe 1). Players Club Name 5 AC Ajaccio, Evian Thonon Gaillard FC (FRA), Stade Brestois 29 (FRA) 4 AEL Limassol (CYP) 3 Manchester Cit y FC (ENG), Dijon FCO , LOSC Lille Métropole , AS Saint-Étienne, Stade Rennais FC (FRA), SC Olhanense, Vitória de Guimarães SC (POR) ECA PLAYER RELEASE ANALYSIS CAN 2013 8 African players playing in Europe Amongst the 16 African nations, all teams have at least one player currently playing in European National Association. Cote d’Ivoire, currently ranked 1st in the CAF ranking, have the highest number of players currently playing in Europe with 21 players. Interestingly, the National Team of Cape Verde has 20 players in Europe, with half of them playing in Portuguese leagues (see proportion table European club representation in African teams p.13) Country Player & Club Number of Number players Angola 8 Marco Airosa, Dédé , Gilberto - AEL Limassol (CYP), Zuela - APOEL FC (CYP), Manucho Gonçalves - Real Valladolid CF (ESP), Guilherme Afonso - FC Vaduz (LIE), Mateus - CD Nacional (POR), Djalma - Kasımpaşa SK (TUR) Algeria 14 Adlène Guedioura - Nottingham Forest FC (ENG), Medhi Lacen - Getafe CF (ESP), Hameur Bouazza - Real Racing Club Santander (ESP), Liassine Cadamuro-Bentaïba - Real Sociedad de Fútbol (ESP), Sofiane Feghouli - Valencia CF (ESP), Carl Medjani, Mehdi Mostefa - AC Ajaccio (FRA), Foued Kadir - Olympique de Marseille (FRA)Faouzi Ghoulam - AS Saint-Étienne (FRA), Ryad Boudebouz Djamel - FC Sochaux-Montbéliard (FRA)Mesbah - AC Milan (ITA), Rafik Halliche - Académica de Coimbra (POR), El Arbi Hillel Soudani - Vitória de Guimarães SC (POR), Raïs M'Bolhi - FC Krylia Sovetov Samara (RUS) Burkina Faso 16 Saïdou Panandétiguiri - Royal Antwerp FC (BEL), Daouda Diakité - Lierse SK (BEL), Issouf Ouattara - PSFC Chernomorets Burgas (BUL), Alain Traoré - FC Lorient (FRA), Djakaridja Koné - Évian Thonon Gaillard FC (FRA), Bakary Koné - Olympique Lyonnais (FRA), Charles Kaboré - Olympique de Marseille (FRA), Germain Sanou - AS Saint-Étienne (FRA), Jonathan Pitroipa - Stade Rennais (FRA), Aristide Bancé - FC Augsburg (GER), Wilfried Balima, Florent Rouamba - FC Sheriff Tiraspol (MOL), Abdou Razack Traoré - KS Lechia Gdańsk (POL), Prejuce Nakoulma - Górnik Zabrze (POL), Paul Kéba Koulibaly - SC Dinamo 1948 Bucuresti (ROM) Cape Verde 20 Carlitos - AEL Limassol (CYP), Marco Soares - AC Om onia Nicosia (CYP), Nando - LB Châteauroux (FRA), Júlio Tavares - Dijon FCO (FRA), Ryan Mendes - LOSC Lille Métropole (FRA), Ronny - CS Fola Esch (LUX), Josimar - FC Dordrecht (NED), Toni Varela - Sparta Rotterdam (NED), Guy Ramos - RKC Waalwijk (NED), Gegé - Marítimo da Madeira Futebol B (POR), Nivaldo - Académica de Coimbra (POR), Babanco - SC Olhanense (POR), Pecks - Gil Vicente FC (POR), Sténio - CD Feirense (POR), David Silva - SC Olhanense (POR), Platini - CD Santa Clara (POR), Héldon Nhuck - Marítimo da Madeira Futebol (POR), Djaniny - SC Olhanense (POR), Rambe CF - Os Belenenses (POR), Fernando Varela - FC Vaslui (ROM), Congo DR 11 Chancel M bemba Mangulu , Dieumerci Mbokani - RSC Anderlecht (BEL), Parfait Mandanda - Royal Charleroi SC (BEL), Landry