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Chris Knight

Why Newcastle, Leeds and Liverpool amid others have been hit with FIFA player ban

Newcastle United look set to be without Miguel Almiron for their first match following the international break.

The Paraguayan playmaker will likely be absent for Saturday's trip to Manchester United after Brazil asked FIFA to impose a five-day ban on all Premier League players blocked from reporting for international duty. Other South American associations are believed to be following suit.

Premier League clubs took the decision over quarantine fears, with stars travelling to red-list countries expected to isolate for a 10-day period after each international break.

Almiron did not travel to play for Paraguay in World Cup qualifying fixtures against Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.

But as a result of this collective decision, Newcastle along with their Premier League rivals are due to be slapped with a five-day ban on players.

It is a requirement in FIFA rules for clubs to release players for international duty as Annexe 1 of the 'Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players' states 11 principles regarding the issue of national team call-ups.

Principle 1.1. of the document states: "Clubs are obliged to release their registered players to the representative teams of the country for which the player is eligible to play on the basis of his nationality if they are called up by the association concerned. Any agreement between a player and a club to the contrary is prohibited."

This principle was temporarily waived in the heights of the COVID-19 pandemic, however - despite cases still being very high in large parts of the world and governments operating with red lists which require mandatory quarantine times after travelling to specified countries - the law was brought back into place and has been called upon in this occasion.

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