Big win for Man City, Liverpool & others as CONMEBOL suspends March World Cup qualifiers

South American qualifiers suspended

CONMEBOL has announced that it will be suspending international matches which were set to take place at the end of March due to a lack of participation from their players.

This has been down to clubs denying them leave because of the risks involved and the the consequences, such as extended self isolation up to 10 days, of players returning from abroad during the pandemic.

CONMEBOL released the following statement:

‘The CONMEBOL Council decided to suspend the double date of the Qualifiers for Qatar 2022 scheduled for March. The decision is due to the impossibility of having all the South American players in a timely manner.’

‘FIFA will analyse the rescheduling of the date, in coordination with CONMEBOL and the member associations. Soon, the different options for holding the matches will be studied.’

‘The CONMEBOL Council decided to suspend the double round of the Qualifiers for Qatar 2022 scheduled for March. The decision follows the impossibility of counting on time and form with all South American players.’

‘FIFA will analyse the reprogramming of the round, in coordination with CONMEBOL and member associations. Soon different options will be studied for the matches.’

El Consejo de la CONMEBOL resolvió suspender la doble fecha de las Eliminatorias para Catar 2022 prevista para marzo. La decisión obedece a la imposibilidad de contar en tiempo y forma con todos los jugadores sudamericanos.

— CONMEBOL.com (@CONMEBOL) March 6, 2021

What does this mean for clubs?

This is ultimately good news for many clubs across the continent who will not have to release their players, if they were ever intending to.

Premier League clubs such as Manchester City and Liverpool have a number of key players in their squad which would have represented their teams should they have been allowed to leave.

Liverpool’s Brazilian contingent of goalkeeper Alisson, midfielder Fabinho and forward Roberto Firmino with City’s Brazilians Gabriel Jesus and Ederson in addition to Argentinian Sergio Aguero should he have been called up.

Barcelona’s Lionel Messi would have been another likely traveller. Manchester United’s Edinson Cavani and Everton’s Richarlison to name further examples.

Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp had already criticised the prospect of losing a number of key players and said the club would not be letting them fly.

“If important players – maybe six, seven, eight or nine – cannot play for 10 days, it makes no sense. They are not going to fly,” he said.

The qualifiers are now supposedly likely to be rescheduled for later in the year.

CONMEBOL has confirmed that the World Cup Qualifiers rounds that were supposed to happen this month have been postponed to dates yet to be decided (reportedly likely in October and November) https://t.co/vHazMFUUAR

— Paulo Freitas (@Cynegeticus) March 6, 2021

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