Dec 4 : African football deserves greater respect, Mali coach Tom Saintfiet said, after FIFA's surprise decision to delay the release of players to their national teams ahead of this month's Africa Cup of Nations. With less than three weeks until the tournament in Morocco, FIFA announced on Wednesday that clubs needed to release players only from December 15, a week later than the standard international window. The 35th edition of the biennial tournament, which runs from December 21 to January