Government Expected to Relax Covid Travel Rules for Footballers

Following conflict between Premier League clubs and a number of national federations following the September international break as players were held back due to coronavirus travel restrictions, the government is expected to relax rules for some individuals including top flight footballers.

That’s the story this week according to The Athletic, who suggest that rather than ten days in quarantine players will be required to remain semi-isolated in a bubble that can include their coaches and teammates for a period of five days—which means players would be able to participate in training.

However, during that five-day period they would not be able to take part in games, which could lead to players for Liverpool and the other clubs in Europe missing a Premier League and European match following the October international break depending on when they return to England.

Liverpool’s impacted players would be their Brazilians: Alisson, Fabinho, and Roberto Firmino. With Brazil’s final match on October 14th and a game against Watford on the 16th, it would mean missing that game and—taking travel time into account—the following Tuesday against Atletico Madrid.

Brazil play three games in October: in Venezuela on the 7th, in Colombia on the 10th, and against Uruguay on the 14th. A compromise that sees impacted players released following their game on the 10th seems a plausible solution that could avoid another showdown with the clubs.