Soccer. From Guingamp to Bayern, clubs retain their internationals – football

1 Who is affected?

As of Monday, the majority of the national selections of the world begin an international gathering of ten days. In Europe and North America, it’s time for qualifying for the 2022 World Cup, while in Africa, qualifying for the African Cup of Nations (CAN) is drawing to a close. In South America, on the other hand, the World Cup qualifications have been postponed, facilitating the management of the cases of many stars (Neymar, Lionel Messi…) who will remain within their club.

Problem: all these meetings involve hundreds of kilometers of travel, dozens of countries visited and as many additional risks of contracting the virus … or having to respect on return, depending on the restrictions in place, a period of isolation more or less long, but absolutely not compatible with the calendar of club competitions.

2 Can clubs retain their players?

Aware of this situation, Fifa has relaxed the rules for making international players available for several months. Since August, it allows clubs to keep their internationals if “a quarantine of at least five days is mandatory from the arrival” on the place “where the match of the national team is supposed to be played.” player, or at the club’s location on his return.

For example, Bayern Munich, whose Austrian player David Alaba must travel to Scotland, an area considered “at risk” by Germany, is entitled to retain his defender to avoid him a quarantine of 14 days on his return. “We are moving towards the fact that he cannot go,” said coach Hansi Flick on Tuesday.

3 Which clubs will make this choice?

Everywhere in Europe, the positions of clubs are multiplying in favor of blocking internationals brought to travel outside the Old Continent. “We can not let the boys go and only worry about the situation when they return,” recently railed Jürgen Klopp, the Liverpool coach. We are in a time when it is not possible to please everyone and we have to recognize that the players are paid by the clubs, which means that we have priority. “

In France, the Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 clubs “have unanimously decided not to make” foreign players summoned for matches outside the EU / EEA zone available to the selections. Some clubs had already taken this decision, such as Stade Brestois with its Algerian midfielder Haris Belkebla and its Beninese striker Steve Mounié, FC Lorient with Morel and Moffi, Metz with a dozen players, or Dijon and FC Nantes with all their players evolving outside the European area. In Ligue 2, En Avant Guingamp had done the same.

“What is on the right track is (…) a derogation which would consist of (…) saying that if the (sanitary) bubble was not bypassed or altered, the players might not have to do this septaine when returning of their selection ”, explains Jean-Michel Aulas, the president of Lyon. In other words, players could benefit from exemptions from the authorities if their respective federations undertake to organize returns by private planes, without contact with the outside world …

4 How do the selections experience the situation?

For the coaches, it is a new puzzle that arises after many gatherings marked by controversies between clubs and selections, against the backdrop of an overloaded schedule and matches postponed due to a health crisis. Swedish coach Janne Andersson particularly lamented the absence of Marcus Danielson and Gustav Svensson, who play in China. “Of course, it’s annoying that they are stopped,” he regretted at a press conference.

The situation is more worrying for many African selections. The coach of Guinea, Didier Six, had to negotiate with Liverpool to have his midfielder Naby Keita for the first match, against Mali, on March 24. “There is no point in complaining, you have to understand the clubs,” he says.