Birmingham City midfielder Mehdi Nafti has urged Premiership clubs to respect the African Nations Cup.
"Every two years it is exactly the same thing," he said. "Managers are not surprised by this. Before signing (African) players, they know what is going to happen.
"In France it's worse because in every squad you have seven or eight African players. And it is impossible to keep them by the rules of FIFA.
"In the European mentality, I can understand that the African Cup of Nations is not seen as important. But for us sometimes it is more important than the World Cup.
"We still have six or seven months in the season apart from those weeks."