September's international match day is coming soon. In addition to the World Preliminary 12 finals, which Chinese fans are paying special attention to, the African and South American qualifiers will also start at the same time. However, the powers of Africa and South America have encountered big troubles before the start of the game. Due to the tough attitudes of several European mainstream leagues, it will be difficult for many international footballers from the two continents to fight for their country. Under the epidemic, the contradiction between club interests and the needs of the national team is inevitably magnified.
On Monday, local time, the Egyptian Football Association issued a statement stating that it had received a "letter of apology" from Premier League club Liverpool. The letter made it clear that Liverpool expressed its unwillingness to release the main players Salah to play in the upcoming World Cup African qualifiers. According to British media reports, Liverpool’s original intention was not to force Salah to stay, but to hope that Salah would not participate in the Egyptian home game against Angola. According to the current epidemic prevention regulations of the British government, Egypt is a "red list country." If Salah competes with the team, he must undergo a 10-day compulsory quarantine after returning to the UK. This means that Salah may therefore miss the Premier League match between Liverpool and Leeds, and even the subsequent Champions League group stage and the contest with Crystal Palace will be affected. In fact, Liverpool Alisson , Fabinho and Firmino three Brazilian internationals face the same problem, because Brazil is also a "red list country" designated by the British government. What is even more difficult is that due to too much “owed accounts” before, there will be three South American World Preliminaries during this international competition day. The British media have made a clear account of this. If the Brazil international joins the team to participate in the World Preliminaries on September 2, 5 and 9, the final battle will end in the early morning of the 10th British time. To 36 hours.
The same problem is not limited to Liverpool,It will also affect the Premier League, La Liga, and even more European leagues-this is an unavoidable problem of group interests, and there is indeed a greater risk. It is reported that the Premier League has sought help from relevant government departments for this purpose, hoping to open up these participating national football nets, but the possibility of supporting this "exemption" proposal is slim. In view of this, the Premier League officials immediately announced: reluctant but unanimously decided not to release players to participate in the international competition in the red list countries next month. According to statistics from the Premier League, this decision will involve a total of nearly 60 players from 26 redlisted countries from 19 clubs. Premier League Chief Executive Richard Masters said: “The Premier League clubs have always supported their players’ desire to play on behalf of their respective national teams. This is something to be proud of for everyone. However, each The club has reluctantly but correctly concluded that it is totally unreasonable to release players in this situation."
After the Premier League made it clear, La Liga did not hesitate to follow up. Before, some clubs in La Liga tried to persuade the South American Football Federation to let the team's internationals not participate in the third world preliminaries, but they were flatly rejected by the latter. At present, 25 South American players from 13 La Liga clubs have received orders from the national team. Subsequently, Serie A also announced that if they come back, they need to be quarantined and support Serie A clubs not to let their players go to the national team to play. Serie A also condemned in a statement that FIFA did not provide more policy protection for the national team players.
In addition, European Club Association (ECA) has long submitted a written protest to FIFA, which they believe is an “abuse of authority”. In a letter sent by the organization to its member clubs, it stated that “FIFA’s decision was made unilaterally.And standing on the clear opposite of ECA ”, at the same time condemning the other party for placing “commercial interests and the interests of its member associations above the players’ health and the club’s legitimate sports interests.” Obviously, as the situation expands, it is still There will be more clubs standing on the opposite side of FIFA, and this may also include Paris Saint-Germain , which is luxurious enough to shock the football world. After all, the French government has similar regulations.
When the spearhead was directed at FIFA, the latter was finally unable to remain silent. As the chairman of FIFA, Infantino issued a statement in this regard, “We have faced global issues together in the past, and we must also in the future. in this way. It is very urgent and important to release players during the upcoming international competition week... I call on all associations, major leagues and every club to unite and act correctly and fairly for global events. Many of the best players in the world are in the leagues of England and Spain. We believe that these countries also have the responsibility to maintain and protect the integrity of competitions around the world. "
All parties involved have their own opinions, and they are not unreasonable. As the leading football player, FIFA obviously cannot blindly call for release. Naturally, it needs to come up with practical solutions to the problem. In this regard, Infantino said, “Regarding the issue of England’s isolation policy, I have written to Prime Minister Boris, calling for the necessary support for players returning from the red list countries. Especially in this way can players not be deprived of the opportunity to represent their country in the World Cup qualifiers, which is one of the ultimate honors of professional players. "In the current European football environment, it is almost impossible for "honor" to override "interests", just as football cannot ignore the epidemic prevention red lines of various countries. In addition, clubs and national teams have always been contradictory, and players are even extremely With "patriotic sentiments", it is impossible to ignore the interests of the club. International match day is just around the corner, and such a statement by FIFA may not help.
.
