If the panorama of the pandemic in March forced the postponement of dates 5 and 6 of the South American qualifier for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, now the issue, with a triple date scheduled for September, seems to be difficult again. The vast majority of national teams, including Colombia, would be affected by a pulse among the clubs in the three most important leagues in Colombia. Europe and FIFA.
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Italy and Spain now joined the announcements made on Tuesday. Serie A issued a statement in which it leaves in the hands of its teams the decision to lend to players, amid restrictions to combat the covid19.
“(Serie A) will support in all circumstances the decision of the clubs not to release the players called up by their national teams to play in countries for which the return to Italy entails a quarantine,” the Italian league said in a statement yesterday .
“FIFA’s decision not to extend the exceptions to the calls for countries where there is a return quarantine obligation and the various limitations linked to the spread of the pandemic would lead to competitive harm to teams that allow their players travel to these countries “, added the note issued by Serie A.
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The one of Spain does not affect for the moment the Selection, since there is no summoned one of this league. But if the situation in England already complicated the situation for Reinaldo Rueda, the coach of Colombia, then the decision of the Italians now puts him in difficulties.
If the Premier League is ratified, Roda will have to look for replacements for Dávinson Sánchez, from Tottenham, and Yerry Mina, from Everton, who are his two starting central defenders, although the DT did tests. with other players during the Copa America, such as Óscar Murillo, but always instead of Sánchez.
Reinaldo Rueda and the balance of the Copa America 2021.
And the Italian would take three other important pieces: goalkeeper David Ospina (Naples), midfielder Juan Guillermo Quadrat (Juventus) and striker Luis Fernando Muriel. Duván Zapata, companion of this last one in the Atalanta, already was low by injury.
Among the five players that Roda would lose due to the pulse between European football and FIFA are 332 international appearances: 113 from Ospina, 101 from Quadrat, 42 from Muriel, 41 from Sánchez and 35 from Mina. And he loses much of his base team, which was already working in the Copa America. So now it will all depend on diplomacy.
What FIFA says.
Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, is clear that the problem is serious and that he has to handle it carefully, but firmly. Yesterday he issued a statement on the subject.
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“I would like all member federations, all leagues and all clubs to show solidarity and do what is both right and fair for world football. Many of the best players in the world compete in the Spanish league and the English league. , and we believe that these countries also share the responsibility to preserve and protect the sporting integrity of competitions around the planet, “he wrote.
“In relation to the issue of quarantine periods for players returning to England from ‘red list’ countries, I have contacted in writing the Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, to request, in particular, that they will not be deprived of the opportunity to represent their countries in the qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup, which is one of the greatest honors for a professional footballer, “he added.
For now, Infantino is aiming for presidential levels to seek solutions. “I have suggested that the UK Government adopt for the next international periods a strategy similar to the one applied in the final rounds of Euro 2020,” the leader added.
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