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.
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.