The Athletic: UK government to shorten COVID-19 quarantine for players traveling to red list countries

Ahead of next month’s batch of 2022 World Cup qualifiers, the UK’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is set to announce relaxed COVID-19 protocols for players traveling to and from red list countries.

According to The Athletic, players at British clubs will now only have to quarantine for five days in a club bubble. It cuts the quarantine time in half for players that made the journeys for World Cup qualifiers this month, who were required to quarantine for ten days in a hotel. The report also says that DCMS has been working with the Premier League and the FA after a major power struggle this month between clubs and national teams.

Below is a list of Tottenham Hotspur players who could travel to countries currently on the UK’s red list during the October international window, should they get called up to their national teams:

• Argentina: Giovani Lo Celso, Cristian Romero
• Brazil: Emerson Royal
• Colombia: Davinson Sánchez

The South American teams play three games in October, and the final match of the window is on October 14. Should the above four players be available for the October 14 matches, they would miss Spurs’ trip to Newcastle on October 17. Spurs then play at Vitesse in the Conference League on October 21, but all should be available by the trip to West Ham on October 24.