World Cup quandary

JAMAICA FOOTBALL FEDERATION General Secretary Dalton Wint says that the English Premier League’s decision to not release players for games played in ‘red list’ countries could put the Reggae Boyz at a major disadvantage for their World Cup qualifying matches next month.

In a statement released by the English League yesterday, the decision was made because no quarantine exemption was granted for the players travelling to and from those countries which were given the designation because of the current COVID-19 situation.

Additionally, non-essential travel to those countries has been discouraged and a mandatory 10-day quarantine is in place for British nationals or those with residential status.

Jamaica, reportedly, could join the list of countries on the United Kingdom’s ‘red list’ this week because of the recent surge of COVID-19 cases. Should this be the case, Aston Villa’s Leon Bailey, Brentford City’s Ethan Pinnock, Watford FC’s Andre Gray and West Ham’s United’s Michail Antonio would not be eligible for selection for the Reggae Boyz’s first three World Cup qualifying games in September against Mexico (Sept 2), Panama (Sept 5) and Costa Rica (Sept 8). Both Mexico and Costa Rica are already red-listed.

With plans to release the roster this week, Wint says the announcement has forced the federation to delay the announcement pending adjustments to the team and attempting to gain assistance from FIFA, as well as the UK Government. However, Wint says that the new restrictions are a major setback for the team’s chances as head coach Theodore Whitmore will be without a full-strength squad.

“We continue to meet and have discussions (but) very soon we would have no choice but to release the final list. The list that we have now is pending some waivers and approvals,” Wint told The Gleaner yesterday. “The coach (Whitmore) wanted the strongest team that is available and if he can’t get some of the players that he thinks are the stronger players that could cause some issues to the selection.”

Premier League chief executive, Richard Masters, says that while they are open to a workaround for the issue, clubs could not authorise the release of the players in the current climate because of the potential effects on the players’ health.

“Clubs have reluctantly but rightly come to the conclusion that it would be entirely unreasonable to release players under these new circumstances,” Masters said. “Quarantine requirements mean that players’ welfare and fitness will be significantly impacted. We understand the challenges that exist in the international match calendar and remain open to workable solutions.”

While FIFA had issued an exemption earlier this year allowing clubs not to release their players because of COVID-19 concerns, a further exemption was not granted by the governing body, which opens the door to possible sanctions by FIFA.

Annexe 1 of the FIFA Regulations of the Status and Transfer of Players says that clubs are “obligated to release their registered players to the representative teams of the country for which the player is eligible to play on the basis of his nationality if they are called up by the association concerned. Any agreement between a player and club to the contrary is prohibited”.

Other European countries are having similar difficulty which could also affect the availability of other Europe-based players. Wint says that with problems that the federations from those red-listed countries now face because of the announcement and the resulting consequences, FIFA’s intervention is needed to find an amicable solution.

“It now questions the integrity of FIFA’s competitions because countries will be playing without (a good set) of players in some instances. And so it is something that FIFA I think will and should try and see how best they can resolve it.”

Wint says that a final decision on the roster in light of the announcement could come by the end of the week.

Sports attorney, Dr Emir Crowne, says that FIFA’s potential legal challenge could present issues as the countries restrictions must be respected.

“Surely, FIFA cannot ride roughshod over the domestic quarantine laws and protocols that many, if not all, of their players face. If this were challenged I am not sure how FIFA’s commercial interests could prevail over the legitimate health and safety concerns of their players,” Crowne said.

Crowne says that the EPL’s decision was the correct one as it is not “acceptable for a governing body to knowingly put their players or members into a situation that jeopardises their health and safety”.

daniel.wheeler@gleanerjm.com