It was a convulsive week. The initiative that the Premier League on the travel ban South America to the footballers who had to face the commitments of their teams in the triple date of the Conmebol Qualifiers caused a wave of contagion that was accompanied by the Serie A from Italy, Liga Nos from Portugal and La Liga from Spain.
However, in the last hours the TAS rejected the precautionary measure requested by the organization of the Spanish competition, which will allow all players to play for their national representatives. According to the international organization, “the release of them by clubs around the world is mandatory”.
“The Deputy President of the TAS Appeals Chamber decides that the request for provisional measures presented by the National Professional Football League in the procedure TAS 2021 / A / 8266 National Professional Football League v. FIFA is rejected ”, announces the official document.
In addition, the report states that “the costs derived from this order will be determined in the final award or in any other order that puts an end to this arbitration. The rest of the claims of the parties are rejected ”.
In this way, the Spanish teams will have to yield to the 25 footballers that were affected in 13 teams. Among the Argentines, the calls for Geronimo Rulli and Juan Foyth (Villarreal); Guido Rodriguez and German Pezzella (Betis); Papu Gómez, Gonzalo Montiel and Marcos Acuña (Seville); and Rodrigo De Paul and Angel Correa (Atletico Madrid).
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Through a statement from its president, the Swiss Gianni Infantino, the highest body of world football had stated that the loan of players by the clubs to the national teams is “A matter of great urgency and importance” and asked tournaments such as La Liga or the Premier League to release the summoned players.
“The decision to add an additional two days instead of three as requested by Conmebol was made by FIFA after consulting with all relevant stakeholders and after taking into account all relevant circumstances, in particular the challenges created by the pandemic. by COVID-19 and especially health considerations for the players, ”FIFA explained in a statement.
“Now we look forward to releasing players for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qualifiers in South America. It is produced in accordance with the recent decision of FIFA, whose legality and legitimacy has been recognized today in the CAS decision ”, he concluded.
During the last week, the Swiss Gianni Infantino hizo “A call for solidarity from all member associations, all leagues and all clubs to do what is right and fair for world football.”
The League made a presentation on Friday at the TAS, based in Switzerland, in defense of their rights against the summons of the players, a position shared by the Premier League of England, Seria A of Italy and League of Portugal, although without recourse to justice.
The conflict with the main leagues in Europe occurred after the extension of the loan period for the players, so that the two dates of three qualifying matches scheduled in September and October can be played.
In each of these windows, FIFA added an additional match to the two that are usually played on the occasion of the suspension of the date of last March due to the pandemic situation in South America.
As it is a risk area in health terms, South American players must comply with the isolation in force in each of the countries when they return to Europe, which implies extending the period of unavailability for the clubs.
The measure was taken with enthusiasm by the coaches who made up their lists with the majority of their protagonists in the Old continent. In this sense, the international entity is expected to have the same criteria for the Serie A from Italy, Liga Nos from Portugal and the Premier League.
“Premier League clubs have decided reluctantly, but unanimously, not to release players for international matches to be played in the red list countries next month. The decision of the clubs, which has the strong support of the Premier League, will apply to almost 60 players from 19 Premier League clubs who will travel to 26 countries on the red list in the international window in September, ”the letter said. British competition official.
The document explains that beyond exposing professionals to possible contagion “quarantining them upon return from the red list countries would not only significantly affect their well-being and fitness“They would also not be available to prepare and play on two Premier League match dates, a UEFA club competition day and the EFL Cup third round.”
In this sense, the president of the Premier League, Richard Masters, pointed out that the teams “have come to the conclusion reluctantly, but rightly, that it would be totally unreasonable to release the players in these new circumstances.”
A few hours later, Italy joined the position with the following argument: “The National Professional League Serie A announces that on the occasion of the FIFA window of September 2021, support their clubs’ decision not to release players called up by national teams to play in their countries. In Italy a fiduciary isolation is foreseen in accordance with the provisions of the current law in the framework of the Sars-Cov-2 virus. Otherwise, FIFA’s decision not to extend the exceptions to the calls of countries where there is still a quarantine obligation upon return (FIFA circular 1749) and the different limitations related to the spread of the pandemic, would create competitive disparities. for teams that allow their members to travel to these countries ”.
While all this debate between the entities takes heat, there was a footballer who raised his position with subtlety but forcefully: Emiliano Martinez. The Argentine goalkeeper was a starter in Aston Villa’s 1-1 draw against Brentford for the 3rd date of the Premier and at the end he used his social networks to filter that will travel to play the triple qualifying date between September 2 and 9.
“Next stop”, he announced and placed an Argentine flag with an emoji. The message, which also celebrated the tie – “a very disputed point today”, he signed -, he shared it in both Spanish and English on his official profile of Twitter where it has more than 400 thousand followers and added more than 4 thousand likes. The post was repeated on his account Instagram more than 3 million followers. He is the first Albiceleste representative who is at the center of the conflict to make his position known.
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