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| November 3, 2001 | Saturday | Shaba’an 16, 1422 |
Argentina Qualifier put back 24 hours
BUENOS AIRES, Nov 2: Argentina’s World Cup qualifier against Peru has been postponed for one day after FIFA backed European clubs in the tug-of-war over the players’ release.
The match, due to be played in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, will now be played on Thursday (November 8), Argentine Football Association (AFA) spokesman Raul Steimberg said.
The decision came after FIFA agreed that the Argentine players picked for the game could play for their European clubs in league matches this weekend.
“The motive is that the majority of players who are based in Europe will only arrive in Buenos Aires on Monday or Tuesday, with no time for preparation,” Steimberg said.
FIFA regulations usually force clubs to release their players five days before World Cup qualifiers.
But soccer’s governing body said in a statement that the rule was not being enforced this time because the South American matches had only been confirmed in the last few days.
The ruling also applies to the Colombia v Chile, Bolivia v Brazil and Ecuador v Uruguay games on Wednesday.
“The South American associations only confirmed November 7 a few days ago, whereas the European associations confirmed the dates for their fixtures several months ago,” FIFA said.
“Bearing this in mind, the European associations could have reasonably expected the qualifiers in South America to be played on November 8 2001, as the following weekend (Nov 10/11) had also been set aside for international matches.”
The final round of South American matches will take place on November 14.
The tug-of-war between the South American countries and European clubs has become increasingly bitter.
The clubs are angry at the format of the South American World Cup competition, which involves each country playing 18 matches over an 18-month period.
They have also become exasperated at the lack of organisation in South America, where international dates are chopped and changed on an almost daily basis.
This year’s Copa America tournament was held in Colombia at only six days notice after being previously postponed until 2002.—Reuters
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