Coronavirus: FIFA grants club permission to decline players honouring international call-ups

World football governing body, FIFA, has given club's the right to prevent their players from honouring international duties over coronavirus.

This is contained in a statement issued after a meeting which declar e the postponement of international duties till further notice.

The Coronavirus pandemic has already seen top European leagues postponed to avoid the spread of the virus.

A statement issued by FIFA reads: “In light of the current situation concerning the Coronavirus, the Bureau of the FIFA Council has decided that the general football rules which normally oblige clubs to release players for national team matches will not apply for the up-coming international windows in March/April,” an official FIFA statement read.

“The situation is rapidly evolving across the world and various international travel restrictions have already been imposed by different public authorities.”

The suggested postponement is not for health reasons but for sporting because some national teams may not be able to have their best players on ground to play.

“FIFA understands that to hold the matches under current circumstances might not only present potential health risks to players (and to the general public) but would also, most likely, compromise the sporting integrity of such matches insofar as certain teams may be deprived of their best squads whilst others may not,” the statement continued.

“To avoid any unnecessary health risks and also situations of potential sporting unfairness, we therefore recommend that all international matches previously scheduled to take place in March and April should now be postponed until such time that they can take place in a safe and secure environment, both for players and for the general public. The final decision on this issue rests with the respective competition organisers or relevant member association in case of friendlies.”

FIFA also revealed that it is also working on potential rescheduling if postponed games.

“The qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup in both Asia and South America have already been postponed following consultation between FIFA and the Confederations concerned,” the statement read.

“In consultation with the confederations and relevant stakeholders, FIFA will be studying the possibilities for re-scheduling any postponed matches and is confident that with goodwill and flexibility from all sides, appropriate solutions will be found to allow the matches to take place in due course and with minimal disruption.

“We are working in close cooperation with relevant national and international public health authorities (most notably the World Health Organisation) and, taking into account the expert advice that we have received on the matter, we consider this measure and recommendation to be the most appropriate and responsible step to take under the current circumstances.”