The CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers see some obstacles as the latest set of fixtures begins next week. This week, the Premier League and La Liga have stated they don’t want to release their players to play in countries on their red list.
Now add Serie A to the leagues in terms of not wanting to lend their players for your national teams. The Italian top-flight released a statement regarding their intentions to withhold their players from traveling to Latin America.
“Serie A announces that it will support teams that decide not to release players for the September games to be played in countries that would require isolation upon returning to Italy. There is no official list, but mainly trips to Latin America,” the statement said.
“FIFA’s decision not to extend the exceptions to the calls for countries in which there is an obligation to quarantine upon return and the various limitations linked to the spread of the pandemic would lead to competitive damage for teams that allow their players travel to those countries.”
This decision will also affect Mexico, which will have its World Cup Qualifiers in the CONCACAF region. Nonetheless, as these three leagues band together to challenge FIFA and national team football, other leagues across Europe will likely be following suit.
Now for CONMEBOL and CONCACAF, it will be interesting to see whether they cave and reschedule their qualifying fixtures or proceed without the players from Europe if FIFA can’t work out something with these leagues.