Portugal have been allowed to change the location of their upcoming World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan to Italy in order to ensure that their Premier League stars will be available.
Manchester United talisman Bruno Fernandes is among the 10 Premier League players to be called up to the Portugal squad ahead of the upcoming international break.
The decision came after manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hinted at the start of March that the club could block Fernandes from playing for his country if it meant he would miss some United games upon his return to England.
Portugal is on the UK's Covid-19 'red list' with travel to the country banned for most citizens. As a result, any player who travelled to Portugal for the game on March 24, which was set to be played in Lisbon, would have faced a lengthy period of isolation upon their return to England.
After the goalless draw with Crystal Palace, Solskjaer was asked about the predicament and suggested he wouldn't allow Fernandes to make the trip: “We’ve not sat down and made a proper call on that one, but it doesn’t make sense if you lose your player for 10 days’ isolation.
“We are the ones paying the players and from what I understand that is the rule, FIFA have given the rule they don’t have to be released so I would think that would be a hard call to make – to let them go and play in red-list countries.
"I want Bruno ready against Brighton and hopefully that we're through in Europe and against Tottenham after that break."
However, in order to have their Premier League players available - which also includes Manchester City trio Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo - Portugal have made the decision to move their game to Italy, with the match now taking place in the Juventus Stadium in Turin.
Portugal will also prepare for their other two matches in the break - which are away against Serbia and Luxembourg - in Italy, to ensure there are no travel complications for their UK based contingent.
