Why Liverpool, Chelsea & more could have players banned for weekend’s games

Liverpool & Chelsea stars stay home

The first international break of the 2021/22 Premier League season is nearly over.

Ahead of the break, the Premier League announced that the competition’s clubs had decided not to release players for international matches that are played in red-list countries:

This would heavily impact Brazil, who had nine Premier League players in their squad:

Said players were Liverpool trio Alisson, Fabinho, and Roberto Firmino, Manchester City’s Ederson and Gabriel Jesus, Chelsea defender Thiago Silva, Manchester United’s Fred, Leeds forward Raphinha, and Everton striker Richarlison.

FIFA could ban Brazil stars

And whilst the above clubs avoided their players having to be involved in a 10-day isolation on their return to England, they could still be set to see their Brazil stars miss out this weekend due to a ban.

As explained by BBC Sport, FIFA can ban players not released in an international window for a period of five days after the window ends.

And, as the window does not end till Wednesday/Thursday, a five-day ban would see the above players miss their club’s Premier League clashes this weekend.

European Clubs’ Association chief executive Charlie Marshall spoke about the situation on Tuesday, stating:

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