As the international break drama go on, it’s not Premier League sides who’ve been in a fight with FIFA and the Brazilian FA.
Besides the punishment over Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City and Manchester United not letting players join Tite’s squad, Zenit were affected as well.
The Russian club blocked Claudinho and Malcom from playing for Brazil in the current World Cup Qualifiers fixtures, and are also forbidden from using their players for the coming days.
Manager Sergei Semak spoke to the local media about the situation today, and didn’t mind making heavy criticism towards FIFA.
“The club deals with this issue – our specialists are in contact with the federations. There are chances. But today FIFA’s decision is that they cannot play,” said Semak (via Championat).
“This is an absolutely absurd situation related to the coronavirus time. It’s not normal when a club, in any case, cannot count on three main players in both the league and the Champions League. Of course, this is a strange decision on the part of all football authorities.”
After missing all the players who couldn’t travel from England and Russia, Brazil manager Tite managed to release a second list of footballers to replace them for the current rounds.
However, with a new call up set to take place next week, the issue is far from over, as players from Liverpool and other Premier League clubs are expected to make it to the list again.
