Premier League
clubs that prevented their players from travelling for the recently held World
Cup qualifiers for their respective countries will be allowed to play them in
the upcoming round of fixtures this weekend as a potential five-day ban has not
been imposed.

Liverpool,
Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea were among clubs that prevented
players to travel to Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Paraguay – countries on the UK’s
red list for COVID-19 – for their respective World Cup qualifiers over the
international break Reuters reported.  

Those
countries had the right to invoke a ban under FIFA’s Article 5, but they agreed
to a waiver after talks were held between officials of Premier League, the Football
Association (FA), FIFA and the associations of Brazil, Mexico, Chile and
Paraguay.

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In a
statement, FIFA said that the decision was reached “based on positive signals
and constructive dialogue FIFA has received from the UK government towards the
international match window in October.”

Officials from
FIFA, the FA and the Premier League had earlier approached British Prime
Minister Boris Johnson, sending him a letter to resolve the issue.

“As a sign
of good faith, goodwill and cooperation, the member associations of Brazil,
Chile, Mexico and Paraguay, in close consultation with FIFA, have taken the
decision to withdraw their complaints in relation to the England-based players,
and players bound to play in England, who were not released for the recent
international matches,” the FIFA statement added.

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“The UK
government is now open to find a reasonable solution with the three
organisations, who are working closely together in a spirit of mutual
understanding, in the interests of everyone.”

On
Wednesday, it was revealed that FIFA had invoked Article 5 to ban Premier League
clubs from selecting players they refused to release for their international
duties following a request from the Brazilian Football Confederation.

On Friday,
a number of Premier League managers – including Liverpool and Manchester City
bosses Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola – had voiced their displeasure over the situation.