Four Spurs players facing 10-day hotel quarantine after international break

[cwy21]

Romero, Lo Celso, Aurier, and Sanchez are currently scheduled to travel to "red" countries on the UK Covid List and would be required to quarantine for 10 days upon return to the UK.

Full list of PL players is here.

FPL Players

docs.google.com

There are reports that the PL are trying to push the UK government to give exemptions to these players as there are three international windows this fall.

 

[Jamturk]

Shouldn't be difficult to run a special testing regime on these guys.

 

[tobi]

What happened to the elite professional athletes get an exemption thing during last season?

 

[cwy21]

What happened to the elite professional athletes get an exemption thing during last season?

I'm not a lawyer, but from what I can tell is that international players would need to quarentine from category 3 countries because the PL/Football League is not listed in paragraph 3.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel and Operator Liability) (England) Regulations 2021 (revoked)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

www.legislation.gov.uk

2.—(1) This Schedule does not apply where P is—

(k)an international elite sportsperson as defined in paragraph 44(2) of Schedule 4, provided the competition for which they are travelling to England is an elite sports event specified in sub-paragraph (3);

Sub Paragraph 3 lists these events
(3) The following elite sports events are specified for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(h) to (l)—
(a)the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship;
(b)All England Lawn Tennis Club – The Championships, Wimbledon;
(c)England & Wales Cricket Board International Cricket fixtures;
(d)ICC World Test Championship Final;
(e)Lawn Tennis Association – Birmingham Classic;
(f)Lawn Tennis Association – Cinch Championships;
(g)Lawn Tennis Association – Eastbourne International;
(h)Lawn Tennis Association – Nottingham Open;
(i)Lawn Tennis Association – Nottingham Trophy.

So the easy solution seems to be adding the Premier League to the list.

 

[wakefieldyid]

I'm not a lawyer, but from what I can tell is that international players would need to quarantine from category 3 countries because the PL/Football League is not listed in paragraph 3.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus, International Travel and Operator Liability) (England) Regulations 2021 (revoked)

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

www.legislation.gov.uk

2.—(1) This Schedule does not apply where P is—

(k)an international elite sportsperson as defined in paragraph 44(2) of Schedule 4, provided the competition for which they are travelling to England is an elite sports event specified in sub-paragraph (3);

Sub Paragraph 3 lists these events
(3) The following elite sports events are specified for the purposes of sub-paragraph (1)(h) to (l)—
(a)the 2020 UEFA European Football Championship;
(b)All England Lawn Tennis Club – The Championships, Wimbledon;
(c)England & Wales Cricket Board International Cricket fixtures;
(d)ICC World Test Championship Final;
(e)Lawn Tennis Association – Birmingham Classic;
(f)Lawn Tennis Association – Cinch Championships;
(g)Lawn Tennis Association – Eastbourne International;
(h)Lawn Tennis Association – Nottingham Open;
(i)Lawn Tennis Association – Nottingham Trophy.

So the easy solution seems to be adding the Premier League to the list.

Yes. They've plainly not updated their guidance, because almost all the events mentioned seem to have been held in June/July 2021. Neverthess, with the government being particularly adept at making up new rules to suit themselves, it's a pity there are no Chelsea players on the list. I'm sure Michael Gove would have changed the rules pretty quickly if there were!

 

[13VanDerBale13]

Assuming this will be the same for Sanchez too ??‍

 

[jedimonkey]

Liverpool have said they won't release Salah for a game against Angola in Cairo

 

[wrd]

Yeah not a chance prem teams will allow their players to go with these quarantine times. Either they'll get exemption or they won't go.

 

[cwy21]

Yeah not a chance prem teams will allow their players to go with these quarantine times. Either they'll get exemption or they won't go.

There's no process in which the teams can refuse to release players for World Cup qualifiers. The players can refuse the call up, but the teams can't.

Also, it seems like a PR problem that Europeans can go play in qualifiers but Africans can't?

But the whole thing with Liverpool really feels like a way to pressure the UK government to approve exceptions. If we can have exceptions for the "Lawn Tennis Association – Nottingham Open" then surely the Premier League relating to WC Qualifiers isn't too much to ask. Maybe just require a two day quarantine at home plus multiple tests.

 

[carmeldevil]

Spoiler: Don’t Like FIFA’s Schedule? Go Ahead and Appeal. To FIFA.

A meeting was called, discussions were held, and groups representing some of the world’s biggest soccer clubs and leagues were given a chance to have their say.

Their concerns were immediate: Extra dates being proposed for qualifying matches for the 2022 World Cup would badly affect their operations, they said, with dozens of their players from South America, including Lionel Messi and Neymar, set to miss crucial league games because of their national team commitments.

FIFA, world soccer’s governing body, reassured the officials from the clubs and the leagues. Do not worry, the clubs were told, FIFA would consider the needs of all the affected groups before deciding how to squeeze in the extra dates, which were needed to accommodate matches postponed by the pandemic.

But in the end, FIFA chose what worked best for FIFA. Ignoring entreaties from clubs and leagues around the world, FIFA and its regional confederation for South America, CONMEBOL, went ahead and added two extra days for qualifying matches in September and October. The clubs, not World Cup organizers, would just have to adjust.
The outcome was perhaps the clearest example of the immense power FIFA wields when it comes to directing a sport for which it is the chief governing body and also the organizer of the World Cup, one of the biggest sporting events on the planet. While everyone involved agreed something needed to be done to find a spot for the games, which had been postponed earlier this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, only FIFA had the final say on when they would take place.

While the leagues, clubs and players’ unions are often given a hearing, they had little say in the matter beyond expressing impotent frustration at the outcome. That was what a lobbying group, the World Leagues Forum, did this month when it noted FIFA’s ruling would most likely leave clubs in Europe and elsewhere without hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of talent for key early-season games because the new dates — and player travel — would overlap with domestic schedules.

“As a governing body, FIFA should be trying to find the best solution for the entire football community,” read the statement by the World Leagues Forum, an umbrella organization for about 40 top leagues. “Instead, FIFA has decided to impose the worst possible option with practically no notice. This poses an obvious governance issue which will have to be addressed.”

The growing tension comes amid a wider discussion about the future of soccer, with FIFA pushing for new competitions and new revenue streams and even evaluating the possibility of staging the World Cup every two years. That discussion, which officially is related to soccer’s calendar for the next decade starting in 2024, is expected to conclude by the end of this year.

The talks follow perhaps the most fractious period in modern soccer history, encapsulated by a failed attempt by a group of leading European clubs to form a closed superleague and break away from the century-old structures that bind the game together.


While their efforts did not ignite the revolution they had designed — their so-called Super League collapsed in a matter of days — their revolt did highlight the unequal distribution of power in global soccer: While teams and leagues invest billions of dollars in the game, they have little say over how it is run.

At present, FIFA has signed so-called memorandums of understanding that provide a framework that allows players, who in the main are trained and compensated by their clubs, to play for their countries. Under the terms of that relationship, clubs are required to release players for national team duty for up to 10 days for each international window.

For years, that agreement largely held firm, until the coronavirus changed everything and cut the time available to fit in matches before the World Cup at the end of 2022. Instead of two games and their accompanying travel in each window, national teams now would be scheduled for three.

At a meeting on July 27, FIFA, represented by Victor Montagliani, its vice president and the head of the regional body for North and Central America, met with officials representing the leagues and clubs. All agreed that a solution needed to be found in order for South America’s qualifiers — backed up by pandemic-related cancellations — to be completed in time for the World Cup.
An official from CONMEBOL, according to notes taken at the meeting reviewed by The New York Times, explained that traveling to and within South America was extremely challenging, and that the confederation required three extra days in September and October to ensure the games could be played safely.

A representative for the leagues said that would not be acceptable, since it would mean scores of players would be unavailable for at least one weekend of league play, and perhaps more, because of quarantine requirements upon their return to their clubs. He said the leagues could accommodate one extra day, and suggested that the games be played in a secure bubble to minimize travel. At the same meeting, a representative of the players’ union, FIFPro, reminded FIFA of the health effects on athletes of traveling long distances and playing so many games in quick succession.

A few weeks later, on Aug. 7, FIFA announced its decision. In a meeting of its most senior body, the Bureau of the FIFA Council — a group made up of the FIFA president, Gianni Infantino, and the leaders of the six regional confederations — it was decided that the South American qualifiers in September and October would be triple match days — three matches in one international break — and clubs would be required to release players for two additional days. Only UEFA, Europe’s governing body, voted against the plan. Previously, it and CONMEBOL had worked together to oppose some of Infantino’s suggestions.

“The addition of two days will ensure sufficient rest and preparation time between matches, reflecting the longer travel distances required both to and within South America, thus safeguarding player welfare by mitigating the negative consequences of this more intense schedule, while ensuring fair competition as well as a prompter return to their clubs of the players involved,” FIFA said in a statement.

That hardly mollified the clubs. To make matters worse, FIFA said it had scrapped a regulation that allowed teams whose players faced quarantines upon return to withhold releasing them for national team games.

“From a regulatory standpoint, this means that FIFA compels players to play for their national team even if they are restricted afterward from playing for their club for several games,” the leagues said in a letter addressed to the FIFA president. The effect, the leagues said, would be quarantine measures that would result “in the disruption or discontinuation of domestic leagues.”
With the first games of the September window just over a week away, leagues and clubs are weighing their options. Under FIFA’s current regulations, they may not have many: They will be sanctioned if they refuse to release their players for the looming international window. The complaint would be brought by national soccer associations that comprise FIFA. The body that would rule on the complaints? FIFA.

 

[Delboy75]

Hasn’t Romero been double jabbed ? Does that effect it ?

 

[cwy21]

BTW I'm pretty sure if a Brazilian or Argentinian refuses a national team call up for World Cup qualification, they might as well give up their passport and stay in England permanently. I'm still assuming this is the PL and FIFA trying to pressure the UK for an exemption.

 

[Saoirse]

Hasn’t Romero been double jabbed ? Does that effect it ?

Nope. For normal people it means you don't have to quarantine after going to an amber list country, but footballers are exempt from that anyway. The red list is places considered so dangerous that there's no exceptions and quarantine must be done in an approved hotel.

Notably the Government has already refused a further exemption from the rules once this season. Connah's Quay Nomads were drawn to go to Armenia on the Amber list in the Champions League, and weren't exempt because they're not a fully professional side. The government refused to step in, and therefore half their team couldn't go because it would have meant self isolating when they got home and missing shifts at their other jobs.

 

[cwy21]

Premier League clubs block players from travelling to red-list countries

Liverpool are refusing to release four players for international duty because of quarantine restrictions as a crisis escalates between European clubs and Fifa over next month’s World Cup qualifiers.Clubs are furious that the release of players for international duty could force many of their stars t

www.thetimes.co.uk

Behind the paywall but the summary is that the PL is trying to band together to prevent releasing players to red list countries.

My thoughts on this whole thing

1) I hope this is part of the effort to get exemptions for the players
2) FIFA still says these players must be released
3) There's inherent politicization and classism (and perhaps racism) in the red list because nations like the US and India that are some of the worst in the world for COVID right now are not on the list due to UK economic interests
4) The World Cup is in 15 months and we need to figure out who is going to be in it
5) Romero and Lo Celso not playing for their nation in WC Quals would probably significantly damage their reputation in Argentina and possibly impact their ability to make the final WC squad.
6) FIFA doesn't take well to politicization in football and England are possibly going for a 2030 WC Bid and I could see FIFA start to leak info that maybe the FA needs to face punishment if they prevent mass numbers of players from traveling for WCQs.

 

[13VanDerBale13]

 

[EQP]

Makes sense. It's impacting too many players and teams.

 

[Marty]

Being in favour of any measures that stops the next World Cup from happening I can easily get behind this.

Not that it will come to that but it's nice to dream.

 

[wrd]

There's no process in which the teams can refuse to release players for World Cup qualifiers. The players can refuse the call up, but the teams can't.

Also, it seems like a PR problem that Europeans can go play in qualifiers but Africans can't?

But the whole thing with Liverpool really feels like a way to pressure the UK government to approve exceptions. If we can have exceptions for the "Lawn Tennis Association – Nottingham Open" then surely the Premier League relating to WC Qualifiers isn't too much to ask. Maybe just require a two day quarantine at home plus multiple tests.

There is now

 

[panoma]

Makes sense. It's impacting too many players and teams.

Absolutely.

Spending 10 days + fitness work after that is just to much time away. After all, it's the clubs that take the risk and pay the wages.

It's a shame it come to this, but seems reasonable.

 

[EQP]

Absolutely.

Spending 10 days + fitness work after that is just to much time away. After all, it's the clubs that take the risk and pay the wages.

It's a shame it come to this, but seems reasonable.

Selfishly, having Romero, Sanchez, GLC and any new players we get before the window closes for those 2 weeks to gel and work with NES will be important for the rest of our season.