Raul Jimenez could miss Watford fixture as Wolves face Fifa sanctions
Raul Jimenez could miss Wolves’ next Premier League fixture as the club faces sanctions for not allowing him to join up with the Mexico national team.
After the Premier League and it’s clubs agreed not to send their players to red list countries for the current international break, Wolves stopped Jimenez from meeting up with Mexico for their World Cup qualifying games this week.
Mexico’s third and final game of the break comes in the early hours of September 9, UK time, and if Jimenez travelled he would face 10 days of isolation in a hotel on his return to England, meaning he would miss both the Watford and Brentford games on September 11 and 18.
However, after Wolves stopped Jimenez from travelling, the club now face potential punishments from Fifa after Mexico called for them to be imposed. As a result, Wolves may be banned from fielding Jimenez for five days after the international window, meaning he will miss the Watford fixture.
The club may also face fines or additional sanctions from the world governing body, who have written to Wolves outlining the regulations.
The Premier League and Fifa are now working to find a solution, as the league fights on behalf of Wolves and the other affected clubs.
The world governing body is also hoping the UK government will relax rules for red list countries, despite previously refusing to.
Fifa president Gianni Infantino has called on all leagues to ‘show solidarity’ and release their players for international fixtures, in the interest of protecting the ‘sporting integrity’ of the game - while Mexico have replaced Jimenez in their squad with youngster Santiago Gimenez.
Clubs have previously been allowed to block call-ups through a Fifa exemption during the pandemic, but that was abolished earlier this year.
Wolves have also stopped Willy Boly from joining up with the Ivory Coast national team, as they play a qualifier in red list country Mozambique.
Meanwhile, Wolves have no concerns over their other international players who are travelling to amber list countries.
If those players are fully vaccinated then they can avoid the 10-day isolation, while those who are not fully vaccinated can use the ‘test and release scheme’ to come out of isolation early if they test negative for coronavirus.
This means that none of Wolves’ 10 international players will miss the Watford game unless they contract coronavirus during their travels.
