Celtic manager Neil Lennon has stated that he’ll open up discussions with his players as well as the board about holding his men back from international duty.
New laws pushed through by FIFA will allow managers to keep their players from travelling to play with their countries if there’s a risk they have to quarantine upon their return (Scottish Sun).
Odsonne Edouard and Vasilis Barkas are two examples of Celtic players who could head to countries on Scotland’s quarantine travel list. If they were allowed to leave on international duty, chances are they would have to isolate for a fortnight upon their return.
Lennon has said that wouldn’t be acceptable. Speaking in comments published by the Glasgow Times, the Celtic manager stated talks will need to be had before he makes his decision.
“Absolutely not, no (On whether Celtic can allow players to quarantine). I only became aware of it on Monday night, so I’ll talk to our Covid officer after the game against Ferencvaros and take a view of whether the players will get special dispensation or whether they would have to be quarantined.
“This is something the club are going to have to have dialogue with relevant associations.
“We will have to discuss it after Wednesday night and prepare for that over the next few days before the Motherwell game, and have a chat to the individual players as well, and tell them it may or may not be able to happen.”
Players must accept their manager’s decision
It wouldn’t come as a surprise if this causes some real heavy arguments across the footballing calendar. However, ultimately footballers must respect their manager’s decision.
Edouard will be looking forward to the prospect of continuing to build up his reputation with the France under-21s for example. If he isn’t able to go, we can only hope the big Frenchman takes it well.
But there’s absolutely no reason for footballers to be allowed any special dispensation. They can’t be considered a special breed in that respect. If they go to a country on Scotland’s quanrantine list, they must self-isolate upon their return. No buts.
So long as those discussions go smoothly, this would also be a boost for Lennon and Celtic. A chance to keep the likes of Edouard and Barkas at home reduces any chances of fatigue and injury at such an early stage of the campaign.
That’s not to say that the Celtic boss should be pushing this through. He needs to ensure he has the relevant discussions with the correct authorities and only block his players from leaving if he has to.
It will be interesting to see how long this rule from FIFA remains in place. It won’t take long before player discontent starts to show if this trickles into the next few international breaks.
Regardless, Lennon is making the right move here.
In other news, a BBC Sportsound pundit is extremely excited about one particular Celtic transfer target.
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