Brazil seeks FIFA punishment for players who skipped matches

By MAURICIO SAVARESE
AP Sports Writer

SAO PAULO (AP) — Brazil has triggered a FIFA regulation in a bid to prevent eight players from competing for their respective clubs in the English Premier League this weekend. They had been called up for World Cup qualifiers but didn’t travel after Premier League teams objected to their players going to South American nations, which are red-listed by the British government because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Brazilian soccer confederation confirmed to The Associated Press that it asked FIFA to stop the eight players, as well as two at Zenit St. Petersburg in Russia, from being fielded until five days after the end of the current international window, which for South America ends on Thursday.