International Football
COVID-19 CHAOS LOOMS OVER WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Next week’s World Cup qualifying games in Europe and beyond are set to be heavily affected by clubs refusing to release players for international duty, Covid-19 quarantines and travel restrictions.
Inter Milan announced on Thursday (March 18) that all of their players will be pulled out of international duty after two more positive Covid-19 cases at the club.
German Bundesliga clubs are unlikely to release Austrian players for their country’s qualifier in Scotland on March 25 although the game is scheduled to go ahead with the visitors fielding a weakened side.
French Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs will not release foreign players called up for their national sides if the teams are playing outside the European Union (EU) due to the strict Covid-19 quarantine rules, the French professional league (LFP) said.
Fifa has relaxed its normal rules, which oblige clubs to release players for international duty, if there are travel restrictions to or from a location or if the player would be affected by quarantine rules at either their home base or the hosting city.
Inter’s ban on players leaving means Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku and Denmark’s Christian Eriksen will remain in Milan as well as the club’s Italy players ahead of the country’s matches against Northern Ireland, Bulgaria and Lithuania.
RB Leipzig coach Julian Nagelsmann said on Wednesday that his club would be stopping some of their players travelling.
“There is still no final list. We are looking for individual solutions for all of our selected players. But we won’t send any players to high-risk areas, or areas where there is a mutation of the virus, if it will force them to enter quarantine upon their return.”
Bayern Munich coach Hansi Flick said Austria defender David Alaba would not be released for the Scotland game and said it was unclear whether striker Robert Lewandowski would be released for games in Hungary and England and at home to Andorra.
“Alaba won’t be at the first game in Scotland. For Lewandowski we’re waiting again to see what the authorities say. We still have a few days left,” he said.
Borussia Dortmund’s 17-year-old midfielder Jude Bellingham was named on Thursday in the England squad to face San Marino, Albania and Poland, but he is unlikely to be allowed to join up due to Germany’s Covid-19 travel restrictions.
“We left him in the squad but at this moment it looks like quarantine rules in Germany will rule him out,” said England manager Gareth Southgate.
“We are still investigating what is possible and we wanted to name him in the squad.”
Full squad
However, France manager Didier Deschamps said he will have a full squad for their game at home to Ukraine and away to Kazakhstan and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“All players must come into our bubble in Clairefontaine (France’s training base). We have agreements with all the governments in the countries where French players are so that they can be available right now (for France) and also when they return to their clubs,” he told reporters on Thursday.
As well as the European games, qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup are being held in Asia and the Concacaf reigion covering North and Central America and the Caribbean.
African countries are anticipating a major haemorrhage of their key players as they go into the crucial last two rounds of Africa Cup of Nations qualifying.
Ordinarily, up to 400 players would be expected to travel from Europe to represent their home countries but Fifa’s edict means most teams will be considerably weakened for key ties.
As well as French clubs, those from Belgium, Germany, Norway, Russia and Slovakia have also refused call-ups, officials and coaches have told Reuters, and many more are expected to follow in the coming days.
“It is a bad decision, first of all, to allow clubs to refuse call-ups and then to even go ahead with the qualifiers,” said Gambia Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet, who has lost four players already and fears more will not be allowed to travel with his team’s qualification on the line.
“This quarantine is just a pretext to prevent players from coming to play for their country. Fifa should never have touched on the relationship between clubs and national teams,” he said.
“If today we prevent the players from coming for this round of qualifiers, what will happen tomorrow for the Africa Cup of Nations finals? It’s not going to end there.”
-Reuters
French soccer icon Zinedine Zidane has agreed to take over his national team’s head coaching duties following this summer’s FIFA World Cup, ESPN reported Monday.
Zidane, 53, reportedly reached a verbal agreement with the Federation Francaise de Football to replace Didier Deschamps, who has held the role since 2012.
Zidane, who managed La Liga powerhouse Real Madrid for two stints (2016-18, 2019-21), has long been expected to eventually become the skipper for France.
As a player, the dynamic midfielder won the 1998 Ballon d’Or and was a three-time FIFA World Player of the Year (1998, 2000 and 2003). He helped France win the World Cup in 1998 and finish second in 2006. He was infamously sent off during the final of the 2006 World Cup when he headbutted Italy’s Marco Materazzi in the chest.
-Reuters
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The ‘Finalissima’ match between Spain and Argentina that was scheduled to be held in Qatar has been cancelled due to the conflict in the Middle East, while the South American side rejected multiple alternatives, UEFA said on Sunday.
The U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran have affected countries throughout the Gulf, disrupting travel in some of the world’s busiest transit hubs and forcing several sporting events to be cancelled due to safety concerns.
The contest between European champions Spain and Copa America winners Argentina was scheduled for March 27 at Doha’s Lusail Stadium, where fans would have had the opportunity to watch Lionel Messi go head-to-head with Lamine Yamal.
UEFA said they held discussions with the organising authorities in Qatar and concluded that the match could not take place due to the “current political situation” in the region.
“It is a source of great disappointment to UEFA and the organisers that circumstances and timing have denied the teams of the chance to compete for this prestigious prize in Qatar,” UEFA said in a statement.
Qatar’s Local Organising Committee said airspace disruption and travel restrictions led to the cancellation of its Qatar Football Festival, where the host country, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Serbia were also set to play friendly games this month.
The Football Association of Serbia later announced they would play away in Spain on March 27 and host Saudi Arabia four days later.
OTHER ALTERNATIVES REJECTED BY ARGENTINA
The Finalissima’s cancellation was not just about Qatar’s security concerns, however, with UEFA saying they explored other feasible alternatives, but they proved to be ‘unacceptable’ to the Argentinian Football Association (AFA).
UEFA first offered to stage the match at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid with a 50:50 split of supporters in the stadium.
A second option was to stage the Finalissima over two legs — at the Bernabeu on March 27 and the second leg in Buenos Aires during an international window before the next Euros and Copa America in 2028.
However, the AFA rejected both options. UEFA said Argentina made a counter offer to play the game after the World Cup but Spain had no available dates.
“Ultimately, UEFA sought a commitment from Argentina that, if a neutral venue in Europe could be found, the game could go ahead on 27 March… or on the alternative date of 30 March. This proposal was also rejected,” UEFA added.
SPAIN WERE READY TO PLAY
The Spanish football federation (RFEF) said they had offered Argentina “all possible options” in collaboration with UEFA to ensure the match went ahead, adding that they had the organisational capacity to stage the clash on short notice.
“From the very outset, the Federation has expressed its absolute commitment to ensuring this match goes ahead, as it believes it brings prestige and international reputation at a crucial time in a World Cup year,” the RFEF said.
“Furthermore, it has worked tirelessly to achieve this. Spain was prepared to play, as has always been stated.”
The 2026 World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada kicks off on June 11.
The 2022 edition of the Finalissima was held at Wembley Stadium in London where Argentina beat Italy 3-0.
-Reuters
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Soccer chiefs from Europe and South America will hold a final meeting before a Thursday deadline to decide whether and where this month’s “Finalissima” between Spain and Argentina will be played, with London emerging as the leading candidate after doubts over Doha, multiple sources told Reuters on Tuesday.
The match between European champions Spain and Copa America holders Argentina had been scheduled for March 27 at Lusail Stadium in Doha.
However, it has become increasingly unlikely that Qatar will host the fixture after the Qatar Football Association suspended soccer tournaments indefinitely following U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and retaliatory missiles fired at the Arabian Peninsula.
The Spanish FA (RFEF) has been pushing for a swift resolution, mindful that the March international break is viewed as vital preparation ahead of the June-July World Cup in North America.
“I know that negotiations are underway,” Spain coach Luis de la Fuente told Spanish Public Radio (RNE) on Monday. “The first thing, as a society, is to stop the conflict, but once you are immersed in it and you don’t know how long it will last, the solution would be, as long as you can’t play there, to find another venue as soon as possible.
Wembley Stadium staged the previous edition in 2022, when Argentina beat Italy, but it is set to host England v Uruguay on March 27. London, however, has other stadiums capable of staging the showpiece, leaving the English capital as the most likely alternative should Doha be ruled out, sources confirmed.
ALTERNATIVE OPPONENTS CONSIDERED
While keen to face Argentina and high-profile players such as Lionel Messi, sources told Reuters that Spain had made clear their priority was not to waste the last window of international fixtures before the World Cup and they were already contemplating alternative opponents.
With Spain also due to face Egypt three days later, any change would require agreement between the RFEF and European soccer body UEFA, South American confederation CONMEBOL, global governing body FIFA and the Argentine FA (AFA).
The RFEF, AFA and UEFA did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment.
A spokesperson for South American confederation CONMEBOL told Reuters that several meetings between the parties had taken place in recent days but did not confirm Thursday’s deadline or London as the preferred venue.
Madrid was initially proposed by the RFEF but rejected by the AFA, who preferred a neutral venue rather than giving Spain home advantage.
Morocco offered to stage the game, but the RFEF was unwilling to back their Mediterranean neighbours amid tensions behind the scenes over the 2030 World Cup, which Spain, Morocco and Portugal will co-host. Both Spain and Morocco are campaigning to stage the final.
Miami was also considered, with Messi based there at Inter Miami, but Hard Rock Stadium is hosting the Miami Open tennis tournament at the same time.
-Reuters
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