Liverpool have been handed a boost in regard to their South American players, as an official statement from CONMEBOL, the governing football body for South America, has suspended World Cup qualifiers in March.
The announcement follows complaints issued from Premier League managers, including Jurgen Klopp and Jose Mourinho, over the quarantine period after players return from international duty.
South America’s 2022 World Cup qualifiers for March have just been called off by CONMEBOL. Comes after Premier League managers said they wouldn’t send players over quarantine-on-return to England
— Rob Harris (@RobHarris) March 6, 2021
Disregarding the fact that additional international travel and mingling between players would create an enhanced risk of COVID-19 transmission, the idea that players would have to isolate in a hotel for 10 days upon return was deemed inexcusable.
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While we at the EOTK completely understand the importance of the guidelines in places – and certainly wouldn’t wish the measures to be undermined – we can’t understand why the qualifiers, or the competition if needs be, can’t be delayed altogether.
Given the ongoing nature of the pandemic, the governing bodies across the globe would have good cause to delay the competition to a date where there is a greater chance of the virus having being eliminated.
It seems like an unnecessary risk to take, in addition to an inconvenient one for many Premier League sides.
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