Premier League’s South American stars relieved as UK to take final red-list countries off the list
All Premier League players will be free to play for their countries during the next international break without having to quarantine, with the UK set to clear its ‘red list’ on November 11.
Teams such as title chasers Liverpool and Manchester City were not allowed to use their South American-based players for a short while after the October international break, as some players were forced to spend 10 days in quarantine upon their return.
But the UK is now set to announce that the final seven countries that remain on their ‘red list’ of countries – including Colombia and Ecuador – will be removed from any restrictions, leaving no more countries on the list.
Brazil, who have Premier League stars Ederson of Manchester City and Liverpool trio Alisson Becker, Roberto Firmino and Fabinho in their squad, will take on Colombia on November 12 which risked the above players being unavailable for the next Premier League games.
All Premier League players will be able to play international football next month and not have to quarantine with the UK set to clear its red list of countries
Brazil are due to play in Colombia, which was on the red list, next month which risked seeing countries’ top-flight stars miss out on games again
Had the red list countries stayed on the list for the November international break, then Liverpool could have been without their Brazil stars for the visit of Arsenal on November 20.
City, who also have Gabriel Jesus as a Brazil regular, could have been without their striker or goalkeeper Ederson for their top-flight clash at home to Everton on November 21, with the Toffees also risking the availability of forward Salomon Rondon who plays for Venezuela, which is set to be struck off the list as well.
Chelsea are another club boosted by the latest UK travel restrictions news, as Thiago Silva would have been unavailable for their clash at Leicester City on November 20 had he travelled with Brazil to Colombia.
Manchester United midfielder Fred, Tottenham defender Emerson Royal and Leeds winger Raphinha are other Premier League players who can now travel freely with Brazil for the Colombia match next month.
Meanwhile, Colombia duo Davinson Sanchez of Tottenham and Everton’s Yerry Mina will be able to return to the UK without having to quarantine after the international fixtures.
Premier League bosses such as Jurgen Klopp (left) and Pep Guardiola (right) were without some South American-based stars this month due to quarantine rules
Should Colombia remain off the UK’s red list of countries for the next international break in March, then the Premier League’s Argentinian players will be able to go there for the first international break of 2022 and not have to quarantine on their return to the UK.
Argentina’s Premier League stars – such as Tottenham’s Cristiano Romero, Giovani Lo Celso and Aston Villa duo Emiliano Martinez and Emi Buendia – were the centre of controversy in September after they were detained on the pitch of their match at Brazil and were accused of breaching the country’s Covid quarantine protocols.
Any country can still be added to the UK’s ‘red list’ should the respective nation’s coronavirus cases continue to rise again, but the list is expected to remain empty for the duration of the November international break, which ends on November 18.
The ‘amber list’, which saw some travel restrictions put in place for visitors arriving into the UK from countries on that shortlist, was scrapped at the start of October.
