Caf president Issa Hayatou has strongly defended the continental body`s decision to merge the 2006 Nations Cup and World Cup qualifiers.
The new system, which will leave several countries without competitive international football for up to three years, has been criticised by leading football figures in Africa.
But in an exclusive interview with BBC Sport website in Accra, Hayatou said the criticism was unjustified.
The Caf chief fumed: "I don`t see why people should complain because there`s nothing wrong with the new system.
"It`s something we had to do in order to fall in line with the new Fifa international calendar."
Hayatou said the fusion of the Nations Cup and World Cup qualifiers was the best solution Caf could come up with to address the seemingly endless club-vs-country
rows.
"We needed to follow the harmonised international calendar because we`re not prepared to lose star players in our competition."
Hayatou also dismissed suggestions that the new system was going to stifle the development of the game in small countries.
"What you must bear in mind is that players belong to clubs not national teams.
"There are national leagues in various countries and that means football is played regularly in a competitive environment.
"It`s within the league structure that players and by extension football develops."
"I also don`t see why the national teams should stay for up to four years without competitive football.
"The coaches can organise friendly matches and there are regional championships all over Africa to keep teams busy."
