The 24-team competition begins on January 9 and will feature a host of Premier League and European stars.
Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira is among those to also call for the tournament to be given more respect.
“Is there ever a tournament more disrespected than the Africa Cup of Nations?” Wright said on Instagram.
On the media coverage around Afcon he claimed: “There is no greater honour than representing your country. The coverage is completely tinged with racism.
“We played our Euros across 10 countries in the middle of a pandemic and there’s no issue at all. But Cameroon, a single country hosting a tournament, is a problem.
“There are players getting asked if they will be honouring the call-ups to their national teams. Imagine if that was an England player representing the Three Lions. Can you imagine the furore?”
Ajax’s Ivory Coast striker Sebastien Haller said the suggestion a player would want to miss the tournament to play for their club “shows the disrespect for Africa.”
He told Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf: “Would this (question) ever have been asked to a European player towards a European Championship?
“Of course I will go to represent Ivory Coast. That is the highest honour.”
However, the 27-year-old said having to miss club games “is very frustrating.” Haller added: “I hate having to choose between my country and my club.”
Although several Premier League clubs will be without key players in January – including Crystal Palace who are set to lose Cheikhou Kouyate, Wilfried Zaha and Jordan Ayew – Eagles boss Vieira echoed Haller’s sentiments.
“I respect and understand the passion and the importance to players to go and represent their country so I will never stop any player going to play the Africa Cup of Nations,” said Vieira, a World Cup and European Championship winner as a player with France. – BBC.
Africa Cup of Nations being ‘disrespected’
THE Africa Cup of Nations is being “disrespected” by some negative media coverage, says former England and Arsenal striker Ian Wright.
