Liverpool manager Juergen Klopp on Friday demanded “some kind of solution” to prevent another club versus country row over COVID-19 quarantine rules for qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup.
Eight Brazilian Premier League players — including Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson Becker and midfielder Fabinho — were called-up by Brazil coach Tite for the next round of qualifiers for next year’s global tournament.
Premier League clubs refused to release players earlier this month for matches in countries on the British government’s “red” list, because of a 10-day quarantine rule facing returning travelers.
Photo: AP
In response, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) and three other national associations asked FIFA to bar the players from club duty for five days before withdrawing their request a day before the next round of Premier League fixtures.
“There must be a solution, because we cannot just leave it like this and say it’s not a problem,” Klopp said. “Yes it is a problem.”
“I know the relevant people are working on this, but there’s nothing decided yet, at least as far as I’m concerned,” he said. “We have a problem when the Brazilians are allowed, or when they go, to the next internationals” next month.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“We have a 12.30[pm] kick-off at Watford [on Oct. 16],” he said. “The game in Brazil is on Friday night [on Oct. 15], so obviously nobody has thought about that yet.”
“I just don’t know how you can do these kind of things where nobody reacts on the schedule,” he said. “We have two problems. One is the schedule, it was always a problem.”
“TV and other guys, the Premier League, say: ‘OK, that’s how it is, they have to play, let’s have a look how they can sort that,’” he said. “Another thing, it’s not good for the players or the clubs as well and I hope the government comes up with some kind of solution.”
Manchester City’s Ederson and Gabriel Jesus, Fred of Manchester United, Chelsea defender Thiago Silva and Leeds’ Raphinha were also recalled by Brazil on Friday.
Tottenham Hotspur’s Emerson Royal is also in the squad.
In early games in the Premier League yesterday, Manchester City beat Chelsea 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, while Aston Villa beat Manchester United 1-0 at Old Trafford.
Additional reporting by staff writer
Yu Yao-hsing on Tuesday nabbed Taiwan’s only goal in the final round of qualifiers for the 2027 AFC Asian Cup, as they fell 3-1 to Sri Lanka at Taipei Municipal Stadium. Early goals from Sri Lanka in the first half left Taiwan struggling to get on the board, and Christopher Tiao’s own goal at 53 minutes sealed the team’s fate in the third round of qualifiers. While acknowledging that the defeat, Taiwan’s sixth in Group D, was disappointing, head coach Matt Ross said he saw reasons to stay positive about the team’s development. “There were lots of positive signs in terms of the
INDIGESTION: Italy failed to qualify for the World Cup for a third consecutive time after a 4-1 defeat to Bosnia on penalties in a loss Gattuso said was ‘difficult to digest’ Coach Graham Arnold on Tuesday challenged his players to “shock the world” after Iraq became the 48th and final team to qualify for the FIFA World Cup with a nerve-shredding 2-1 win over Bolivia in an intercontinental playoff in Mexico, as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Sweden and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) also secured their places at the finals. Iraq, whose preparations were disrupted by the war in the Middle East, sealed their first appearance at the finals in 40 years and are to play in Group I against France, Senegal and Norway. Goals from Ali al-Hamadi
Teng Kai-wei, the only Taiwanese player on an opening-day roster in this year’s Major League Baseball (MLB) season, took his first win of the year with the Houston Astros in his season debut. Teng entered in relief in the top of the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, with the Astros trailing 5-0. He pitched 2-1/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts, as Houston scored 11 runs during his outing to snatch an 11-9 comeback victory. The win is the Astros’ first of the season and the third of Teng’s MLB career. “It’s my first time pitching for the Astros, so
“I don’t remember the moment, but ever since I was a kid, that’s the first thing I loved,” two-time NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas said of his lifelong romance with basketball. However, that journey unfolded against the limitations of his size in a game where height often dictates opportunity — a reality he confronted throughout his career. At 175cm, Thomas is less than 2cm taller than the average Taiwanese adult male, while NBA players during his career stood at about 200cm on average. Compared with the NBA’s average career length of less than five years, Thomas’ 13-season career stands out as
RSS