If players don’t comply with rules then we’ll be forced to place them quarantine, asserts Javier Tebas
Nelson Semedo has become the latest in Spain to break La Liga protocols
|La Liga president Javier Tebas has warned players within the Spanish top tier that they could be forced into quarantine again after Barcelona’s Nelson Semedo broke La Liga protocols. The full-back was not allowed to train despite being a key star as he was awaiting the results of a COIVD-19 test.
While the La Liga is set to resume from the June 12 with the Seville derby before Barcelona and Real Madrid play, the state of equilibrium could change with players breaking protocols. Barcelona’s Nelson Semedo is the latest player on the list after the Portuguese full-back breached the La Liga’s protocol by attending a gathering of more than twenty people. It saw Semedo placed in isolation and not allowed to train with him undergoing tests for the COVID-19 virus. He is not the first one after four Sevilla players were photographed last month at a barbeque attended by more than ten people.
That breaks the agreement between the league and the Players' Association (AFE), which would see normal football resume without the need for any form of quarantine between matches. However, that could change as La Liga president Javier Tebas is concerned with the way the players have acted. Tebas further admitted that it could force him to take serious action if players don’t follow the rules/protocols created to keep not just them but everyone else around them safe.
"If this continues, we could be obliged to look at something we weren't going to do, which is quarantining. We had planned for an obligatory quarantine the week before the season began. But if this is going to become more normal -- three players from one club, one from another -- then we will be left with no choice. If they aren't complying with the rules with the due diligence of a footballer, then we would have to take a step back and demand they quarantine," Tebas said reported ESPN.
“If so many parties and so many barbecues continue. It would be a shame because many are complying, so I make a call to all those that are to ensure everyone at their club is following the rules. La Liga's shown a lot of confidence by not enforcing quarantine and that confidence is diluting as the rules in place are being broken.”
