Coach Jürgen Klopp raised the possibility that Liverpool would withdraw players from World Cup qualifiers later this month, saying it is “just not possible” for team members to spend 10 days in isolation in a hotel after returning from the UK COVID -19 Red List countries.
Direct travel to and from Red List countries is prohibited in the UK, and all of South America and Portugal are still subject to those strict measures. Liverpool have three Brazilian internationals, Alisson, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino, and Portuguese forward Diogo Jota, who is likely to be called up by their country later this month.
Anyone returning from Red List countries should be quarantined in an airport hotel for 10 days, with no exceptions for elite athletes, and Liverpool manager Klopp admitted concerns about the potential impact of flying players around the world for the World Cup qualifiers .
“Having more information would be great, but we don’t get it,” Klopp told a press conference on Wednesday. “I think FIFA was pretty clear, they said we don’t have to let the players go this time and I think all clubs agree that we can’t let the guys go to fix the situation when they come back. , with our players, in a 10-day quarantine in a hotel or whatever.
“I can’t. I understand the need of the different associations, but this is a time when we cannot make everyone happy. So we have to admit that the clubs pay the players, which means that we have to be the priority.”
“It means we all understand the different needs, with the games coming up in the summer, I get it. But you can’t make everyone happy at the same time in this period of our lives.
“People need time to make decisions and we don’t think about it too much because we can’t influence it, but we just take care of the things other people have decided.”
“But I think everyone would agree: we can’t let players play for their country and then quarantine them in a hotel for 10 days. This is not how we can do it.”
The South American qualifiers in the CONMEBOL region are most at risk for disruption, and Brazil’s matches against Colombia and Argentina are likely to involve several Premier League players.
But with FIFA allowing clubs to keep players for this qualifying round in the event of COVID-19 issues, Klopp has said the interests of the clubs should come first.
The COVID-19 contamination rate in the UK has fallen in recent weeks as the government has now drawn up a roadmap for relaxing social distance measures, with all restrictions to be lifted sooner. 21st of June.
But despite progress in the UK, Klopp said clubs are concerned about the possibility of players leaving their safe COVID-19 bubbles to join their international teams.
“First of all, we are concerned, yes, by all the things that have happened from the point of view of the virus in recent months, when someone had to get out of the bubble,” he added. “Inside the bubble, we weren’t without suitcases, but we haven’t had any cases for a long time and it never spread.
“There were two periods: in the last international break, when more cases emerged than before, and the Christmas period, which was a challenge for all of society.
“And now in England everything is going in the right direction and it looks positive and promising, but yes, we are worried about things.”
CONMEBOL will meet internally on Wednesday and will have a virtual meeting with FIFA President Gianni Infantino on Thursday to discuss the issue.
Sources have told ESPN that CONMEBOL leaders are not considering playing in a bubble and will not play the qualifiers without their European players.