After the Premier League and LaLiga, now Serie A have also announced they will support any club that won’t release its players for international duty amid COVID restrictions.
The clubs are up in arms over the potential of losing their players for 10 days of quarantine if they are allowed to travel to ‘red’ zones for their international matches.
Even if they are vaccinated, the players will still have to self-isolate for up to 10 days after returning from some countries, including practically all of South America.
The Premier League was the first to take a stand and announce it would support clubs who refused to release their players.
LaLiga followed yesterday and now the Lega Serie A has taken a similar stance with a statement.
“Unlike FIFA’s decision to not extend exceptions for call-ups to countries where quarantine upon re-entry is mandatory, we find these would create competitive disparity between teams who allow their players to travel to these countries.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino released his own statement earlier this evening, insisting “the release of players in the upcoming international windows is a matter of great urgency and importance.”
Infantino called on the British Government to provide an exemption for professional football players from the quarantine restrictions, but that was rejected.