Premier League clubs decided to withhold their South American players from traveling this month to partake in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers for their respective national teams, citing travel to “red list” countries as the reason for their decision.
Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea, and Manchester City are among the clubs that held onto their players as they didn’t travel to South America. As a result, the Brazi national team had to withdraw its call-ups, and the federation is making sure they won’t have to do this again for the October window.
Reuters (via UOL Esporte) reports that the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) has activated the five-day “automatic restriction period, which prevents clubs from using players who have not been released.
Later, the CBF confirmed that they had contacted FIFA to apply its rules. “The information is correct,” a CBF spokesman said to Reuters. “We’re only asking FIFA to comply with the regulations after players don’t show up (for international commitments).”
The spokesman said the request does not include Everton striker Richarlison who they released for the Tokyo Olympics. Other English clubs might be facing similar sanctions.
Newcastle United, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Watford, and even second division champion Blackburn Rovers, could also lose players this weekend, as the Chilean, Mexican, and Paraguayan associations also triggered the restriction sanctions.