Nuno Espirito Santo: Tottenham boss seeks government red-list travel help for World Cup qualifiers

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Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has appealed for help from football and political authorities over red-list travel during the international break.

Premier League clubs had unanimously decided this week not to release players for World Cup qualifying and friendly matches in red-list countries.

But Spurs pair Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero are set to travel home to Argentina - a country on the list.

They would miss three Tottenham games due to UK quarantining requirements.

Managers back decision not to release players

"We know what it means for all of the players to play for their national teams. It's something they're very proud of, so what we are trying to do is anticipate the situations," said Nuno after Sunday's win over Watford took Tottenham top of the early-season table.

"We cannot stop it but we try and find the best way, so when they return we can get them sooner."

Argentina have World Cup qualifiers against Venezuela, Brazil and Bolivia - four countries all on the red list that require confinement in a government hotel for 10 days after returning to the UK.

Aston Villa have also said their two Argentina internationals, goalkeeper Emi Martinez and midfielder Emi Buendia, will travel to South America for the first two qualifiers, but miss the third against Bolivia, meaning they will only be unavailable for one club game, against Chelsea on 11 September.

Fifa president Gianni Infantino confirmed last week that he had written to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and "appealed for the necessary support, in particular, so players are not deprived of the opportunity of representing their countries in qualifying matches for the Fifa World Cup".

Nuno said: "It's a problem that not affects only us, but affects all clubs and all the South American players playing in the Premier League. We have to obey the government law.

"We will try to do so, but at the same time we don't have any kind of help from Fifa, the government or the Premier League in support in this situation."

Fifa recently extended the September and October international windows by two days in South America to enable countries to catch up on World Cup qualifiers postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Because of the time difference, players involved in those games may not return to the UK until Saturday, 11 September, when eight Premier League matches are scheduled to take place.

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