Senegal Football Federation (FSF) has won a drawn out tussle with English Premier League side Watford to have Ismaila Sarr released for national duty.
The winger is now due to link up with Lions of Teranga on Tuesday evening at the team’s training camp in Dakar.
Sarr had been blocked by the club from joining the national team due to a knee ligament damage that has kept him out of the game since November.
In a statement, FSF said that the tem was looking forward for his arrival in an Air France flight direct from London.
“The Senegalese Football Federation informs the public that it made arrangements yesterday (Monday) to send player Ismaia Sarr his plane ticker to join Lions of Teranga in Dakar before departure to Bafoussam (Cameroon),” reads the statement on FSF website.
“The latter was thus able to embark in London on 11:30am today aboard the Air France flight and will arrive in Dakar in the early evening.”
Watford’s assessment indicated that Sarr was not fit to play in the AFCON tournament that starts on January 9 to February in Cameroon.
The Premier League club denied that they had blocked the player who had “expressed his desire” to feature in the tournament.
“In early December, the club wrote to the Senegal Football Federation outlining the clinical diagnosis of Ismaila’s injury and immediately followed that up by supplying the MRI scans detailing the extent of the injury,” Watford said in statement on Sunday.
“After further consultation with medical experts, we informed the Federation of Ismaila’s rehabilitation process and likely timeframe of recovery.
“Within the past 10 days, the club has reiterated to the Senegal Football Federation the player’s current medical status and recovery schedule.
“The Hornets have have also invited the Senegal Football Federation to instruct their own independent surgeon to confirm the diagnosis and rehabilitation period.”
Senegal are pooled alongside Guinea, Malawi and Zimbabwe in Group B.
They take on Zimbabwe on January 10 for their first match of the tournament, before playing Guinea four days later and Malawi on January 18.
