Femi Solajawith agency report
Super Eagles players in the English topflight can heave sigh of relief as there will be no need for them to quarantine after returning to base from playing for Nigeria in the World Cup 2022 qualifiers starting next month in Africa.
Nigeria is one of the few countries the United Kingdom excluded from the list of those with high risk on coronavirus pandemic.
Nigerian players like Kelechi ‘Seniorman’ Iheanacho, Wilfred Ndidi both of Leicester City; the trio of Oghenekaro Etebo, William Troost-Ekong and Dennis Williams of FC Watford; Alex Iwobi of Everton FC; and Frank Onyekachi are among the legion from the UK that Head Coach, Gernot Rohr will need to prosecute the route to qualifying for Qatar 2022.
The United Kingdom placed Brazil and Egypt among its amber list which means returning players from those countries will have to go into a 10-day quarantine. The implication of this is that these players are going to miss some matches in 2021/22 English Premier League ongoing season.
With Nigeria in safe zone, the same is not sure for Super Eagles’ first opponent in the AFCON 2022 tournament, Egypt.
It is this development that has forced Liverpool FC to block Pharaohs’ talisman, Mohamed Salah, from traveling to Cairo for the World Cup qualifier at home against Angola.
The Pharaohs will also play away at Gabon which Liverpool approved but the main concern is the home leg games in Cairo that will require Salah to quarantine for 10 days on returning to England.
Salah was called up to the Egypt squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Gabon
Aside Salah, Brazilian players like Roberto Firmino, Fabinho and Alisson are also affected by the Covid-19 restrictions.
All four players would likely miss Liverpool’s match against Leeds if they joined up with their international team-mates.
Both Egypt and Brazil are on the UK’s red travel list, meaning the players would have faced a 10-day quarantine in a hotel upon their return to England.
Liverpool have since said they are prepared to release Salah for the Gabon game but not the home game against Angola in Cairo.
In a statement, Egypt said they have asked FIFA for a travel exemption, meaning Salah would be able to play for his country and not face quarantine when he returned to the UK.
The full statement read: “The Egyptian Football Association continues its continuous contacts with the International Football Association regarding facilitating the task of international players joining their national teams to participate in the World Cup qualifiers, which requires exempting them from travel restrictions imposed on them in the countries in which they play due to the Coronavirus pandemic, so that they can join their national teams.
“The Egyptian Football Association had received a letter from Liverpool FC apologizing for the inability of its player, Mohamed Salah, to join the national team in its next camp, which includes facing Angola in Cairo and Gabon in Franceville during the first and second rounds of the African continent’s qualifiers for the World Cup.
“The English club’s letter referred to the precautionary measures applied in England to confront the outbreak of the Coronavirus in the world, which puts returnees from some countries in compulsory health isolation for a period of ten days upon their return to England.
“In this letter, the English club also expressed its hope that the Egyptian Federation would understand that it was forced to do so, in the face of the player being subjected to a quarantine for this period and being affected by this physically, as well as the uncertainty of the conditions of the place of the stone determined by the English authorities.
“It is reported that Liverpool FC took the same position with a number of its foreign players.”
UK’s Sportsmail reported yesterday that Premier League chiefs were lobbying the Government for quarantine exemptions to avoid their star players being forced to isolate in hotels and face missing key Premier League and Champions League matches.
Players travelling to red-list countries like Egypt, Brazil and Argentina could miss up to four matches for their clubs if they travel for international duty.
The World Cup qualifiers in October could affect players’ availability for the opening group-stage clashes in the Champions League.
