Brazil want sanctions, ECA says FIFA should go easy on clubs for not releasing players

September 8 – The six English Premier League clubs who refused to release players for Brazil’s World Cup qualifiers should be told – and fast – if they will be suspended by FIFA, says European Clubs’ Association chief executive Charlie Marshall.

Nine Premier League players were selected for Brazil’s three games but all were refused permission to leave in what has becoming an escalating club versus country issue.

The players did not travel to South America because they would have had to quarantine for 10 days on their return to England, which would have extended their absence even further.

Brazil want FIFA to invoke its five-day rule bans players who should have been on international duty.

“This has to be sorted it out within the next 24 hours. If FIFA is not going to sanction the clubs then they need to tell them,” said Marshall.

Under current circumstances, Marshall feels FIFA should be showing some leniancy.

“We don’t think there should be sanctions because if a player has to quarantine he is unavailable to immediately play for his club again, so it would be longer than the agreed release period.”

“We asked FIFA to extend the exception for players having to be released for international duty but they chose not to.”

Meanwhile, Tottenham Hotspur are said to be furious that their two Argentinian players, Giovani Lo Celso and Christian Romeo, defied club orders not to play for their country against Brazil.

Both were caught up in the farcical fixture which was stopped after five minutes following the intervention of public health officials in Sao Paolo, who objected to the presence of four English-based players in the Argentina squad – two from Tottenham and two from Aston villa – claiming they all breached Covid-19 regulations.

It is reported that the Spurs pair – along with their Colombian defender Davinson Sanchez – are set to be fined for reporting for international duty against the club’s wishes.

Unlike Villa, who reached an agreement with the Argentine Football Association [AFA] over its two players, Spurs did not give permission for Lo Celso and Romero to travel to so-called red list countries but were ultimately unable to stop them.

In a statement, the Brazilian health authority Anvisa claimed it had received reports that the four Argentines had provided “false information” on their pre-flight health declarations.

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