Alex McLeish has admitted that Tottenham Hotspur have been put in a tough position due to the actions of Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero, who flew to South America during the international break.
The Premier League did not permit players to fly to ‘red-list’ countries during the international break but Tottenham’s Argentine pair, as well as Davinson Sanchez, decided to join up with their national teams anyway.
The situation took a farcical turn last weekend when Argentina’s match against Brazil was suspended after the Brazilian authorities accused Argentina’s Premier League stars of not disclosing that they had been in the UK over the last 14 days.
Romero, Lo Celso and Sanchez have subsequently left South America and are now serving their quarantine at a training camp in Croatia before returning to the UK next week. However, reports claim they could be fined by Spurs upon their return.
Nuno Espirito Santo admitted in his press conference on Friday that he has sympathy with the players, insisting they cannot be expected to pass on the opportunity to play for their countries.
McLeish has insisted there is little Spurs could do if the players are determined to join up with their national teams.
When asked about Lo Celso’s and Romero’s situation, the former Birmingham City boss told Football Insider: “Club rules are in place. You do have club values.
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“There has had to be a change in some of those values. In terms of what has happened over the last couple of years with Covid.
“I can only imagine that there were some conditions put in place for players in terms of Covid-19.
“If Spurs are doing something the players can challenge, that’s what will happen.
“The players will say we never knew or they’ll put up some kind of defence.
“You would think that there would be rules in place within the club.”
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Hopefully, the crazy situation that occurred in South America last week forces FIFA, the Premier League and CONMEBOL to come together and work out an arrangement to ensure there is not a similar issue during next month’s international break.
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