Liverpool reject Egypt's request to release Mohamed Salah for international duty

Due to quarantine restrictions, Liverpool has refused to release Egypt captain Mohamed Salah next week. If Salah does indeed leave the UK for international duty, he would require a 10-day isolation period on his return. Meanwhile, Liverpool is not the only team that is seeking exemptions from the compulsory quarantine rules for players returning from red list countries as several clubs will miss a number of crucial players.

Liverpool refuse to release Mohamed Salah for Egypt duty

Since there is no agreement between the Premier League and the government, and Mohamed Salah would need a 10-day isolation period after playing in Egypt, Liverpool has told the Egypt federation that their ace winger will not be released for the upcoming World Cup qualifier against Angola in Cairo. However, the Reds do not have any objection with Salah playing in Egypt's second World Cup qualifier in Gabon on September 5. This is because Gabon is on the UK's amber list, meaning that quarantine rules do not apply.

On receiving the notice, the Egypt FA said, "The Egyptian Football Association has received a letter from Liverpool FC apologising for the inability of its player, Mohamed Salah, to join the national team in its next camp." The letter added that the club was apologetic for this decision, but hoped that the Egypt Federation would understand its decision because of the quarantine rules.

"In this letter, the English club also expressed its hope that the Egyptian Federation would understand that it was forced to do so, in the face of the player being subjected to quarantine for this period and being affected by this physically, as well as the uncertainty of the conditions determined by the English authorities. It is reported that Liverpool FC took the same position with a number of its foreign players," said the Egypt FA while explaining the letter received from Liverpool.

Brazilian trio likely to miss Liverpool vs Manchester United

Liverpool could be forced to play against Manchester United without the Brazilian trio of Alisson, Roberto Firmino and Fabinho. This is because as per FIFA's recent rule changes, clubs are no longer permitted to veto their South American players from travelling during the international breaks. This rule applies even if players need to quarantine upon their return.