Fifa: Chinese Super League clubs refuse to release South Korean defenders – report
- Beijing Guoan’s Kim Min-jae and Guangzhou Evergrande’s Park Ji-soo miss out on Austrian games against Mexico and Qatar
- CSL sides not obliged to release players as CSL season yet to finish before AFC Champions League in Doha next week
South Korean media have reported that Chinese Super League clubs have refused to release their players for the national team’s upcoming international friendlies.
This international break will see Paulo Bento’s South Korea side take on Mexico and Qatar in Austria, with matches on November 14 and 17 respectively, but they will have to do so without Beijing Guoan’s Kim Min-jae and Guangzhou Evergrande’s Park Ji-soo.
The Yonhap News Agency reported that the CSL clubs “declined to make the players available, and the KFA [Korean Football Association] said Kim and Park will not be replaced”.
This season’s Chinese Super League is not yet concluded, with champions Evergrande playing the second leg of their title-deciding match against Jiangsu Suning on Thursday.
Chinese football shows its thin skin with Kim reaction
Both Beijing Guoan and Evergrande are among the four CSL teams who will travel to Doha to complete the AFC Champions League season, which kicks off next week. They will travel from the CSL’s Suzhou bubble, where players, staff and officials have been confined to the same hotel apart from training and matches.
This current Fifa international window from November 9-17 falls under the exceptions for the coronavirus pandemic, meaning clubs are no longer obliged to release players who are called up to their national teams.
“If players face mandatory quarantine of at least five days upon returning to their clubs, then clubs may refuse to make them available for international duties,” Yonhap reported.
Qatar has extended its coronavirus regulations with arrivals from countries on their “Green List”, which includes Austria, subject to a week-long isolation before undergoing another Covid-19 test.
That would mean that the Korean duo would miss the first game of their team’s AFC Champions League revival, which is set to kick off on November 18.
Kim told to ‘apologise or leave’ for criticising China teammates
Guangzhou Evergrande play Malaysia’s JDT on November 19 before Beijing Guoan on November 21.
Kim, who has long been linked with a move to Europe, upset Chinese fans in an interview with South Korean television in May, when the CSL was on its coronavirus hiatus.
