Wednesday, August 25, 2021
Parking for international matches
FIFA doesn’t like this escalation at all
International matches are due again at the beginning of September. But they could turn out quite differently than planned. Numerous clubs do not want to let their professionals go, they fear for their health because of the pandemic. Spain and England weigh down completely. FIFA has a problem.
Even the warm rain of money in the FIFA headquarters in Zurich was unlikely to have guaranteed unrestricted joy. As nice as the news from the US Attorney General’s office about the lush compensation of $ 201 million from the corruption scandal was – the next hot spot for the world football association had long since flared up: The dispute over the term of notice for the upcoming international matches is escalating.
On Tuesday evening, the leagues from England and Spain went on a confrontation course and announced that they would refuse a large number of players for the upcoming international matches in early September. The Premier League does not allow almost 60 professionals to travel to risk areas on the so-called “Red List”, while La Liga does not allow at least 25 players to travel to South America. But behind the fear of impending quarantine there is also a lot of anger about FIFA going it alone.
The Spanish league association made this very clear and attacked the world association directly. It was a “serious unilateral decision by FIFA” to extend the two suspension windows in September and October for the World Cup qualifiers in South America from nine to eleven days each “without considering other solutions proposed at the World Leagues Forum “.
PSG are also dissatisfied
The Spaniards are not alone in their anger. The Premier League mainly justified its step with the mandatory ten-day quarantine for travelers returning from “Red List” countries. But the English clubs also expressed their “dissatisfaction” with the unauthorized extension of the South American secondments, “which has a negative effect on their availability for their clubs”.
The French top club Paris St. Germain also complained in writing to FIFA. After all, Argentina’s new signing Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Neymar are both of his superstars affected and could miss the home game against Clermont Foot on September 12.
And the powerful European club association ECA also opposed the world association. According to information from the English newspaper “The Times”, the ECA, in which ten German top clubs are represented, stated that it would not accept that FIFA “abused its function”.
In order to argue for possible FIFA penalties for those who refuse to be released, the ECA advised the clubs to insist on their “duty of care” towards their players. In addition, the mandatory parking time is exceeded by a ten-day quarantine. So far, an exception rule has applied during the corona pandemic, according to which clubs did not have to park their players in the event of impending quarantines. However, this exception is no longer applicable.
The situation is less dramatic for the Bundesliga, as only a handful of South American legionnaires are eligible anyway. In addition, there is no quarantine obligation in Germany when entering from high-risk areas for vaccinated and convalescent people. Nevertheless, the German Football League (DFL) is in close contact with the clubs concerned – and also criticized FIFA’s approach.
“Decisions with regard to periods of dismissal must take into account the interests of the clubs as employers of the players and the interests of the national leagues,” the DFL said on request: “An extension of the period of dismissal by two days and a dismissal obligation despite quarantine obligations do not do this . “
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