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The Olympiacos club sent an angry letter to FIFA, expressing their discontent at the infection of the duo Ahmed Hassan Kouka, the player of the Egyptian national team, and Youssef Al-Arabi, the Moroccan player, with the Corona virus during the international suspension of November.
Olympiacos accused their counterpart, the African Union and its affiliated federations of not applying the FIFA protocol of precautionary measures against the Corona virus, which caused the contagion of Coca and Al Arabi, as well as the injury of Madi Camara, the player of Guinea in the previous international sanction.
Olympiacos claimed that one of their players stayed in a 4-person room while at his country’s team camp, without specifying his identity or nationality.
Olympiacos also regret the arrest of Youssef Al-Arabi in Cameroon after he caught Corona due to travel restrictions.
Half of the statement was as follows:
In recent months and given the emergency conditions caused by the Coronavirus and the previous experiences we went through in the 2019/2020 season, the Association of European Clubs, in addition to all the players, expressed their serious concern about the participation of the players in the October and November international suspension.
On the sidelines of these international scales since September 2020, the European Club Association, the World Leagues Forum and the World Soccer Players Association have developed a set of principles to maintain the health and safety of players and protect them from the Corona virus. .
In this unprecedented period, priority must be given to the health and safety of the players and the teams involved with them, and neither to pressure the players and clubs to make decisions that endanger the health of the players and their meaning. security, either theoretically or practically.
Given the growing epidemic and the high rate of contagion due to long travel days and their contact with players and individuals from other countries, in addition to the fact that the protocols applied by many non-European federations were inadequate or non-existent in the first place, the players demanded the expansion of the emergency amendments witnessed by the September suspension to include the October-November hiatus, and strict measures are taken to ensure that matches held under the International Federation umbrella see the implementation of the FIFA Protocol or an equivalent protocol of the FIFA Confederation.
We are saddened to learn that FIFA has not paid enough attention to these concerns.
Unfortunately, the experience of the international matches in October and November showed that the African Football Confederation and its member associations cannot effectively protect the health of our players.
Olympiacos is proud that a large number of its players participate with the national teams of their countries, but at the same time we are seriously affected by the failure of some member states of the African Union to comply with the protocol of the International Federation in matches, there are reports that in some cases they witnessed the residence of 4 players in a room, which led to our players becoming infected with the Coronavirus and absent from crucial club matches in the League and the Champions League.
During the international break in October, one of our most important players (Madi Camara) returned to the club with the Corona virus after participating in friendly matches with the Ghana national team, which meant his absence in several matches of the Greek League as well as in the first two matches of the Champions League group stage.
Now, after the end of the international suspension in November, we have two other players – until now – who got the Corona virus from being with their national teams, and they are also members of the African Union, specifically Youssef El-Arabi, whose sample came out positive with the Moroccan national team, like Ahmed Hassan Kouka, whose sample came out positive. With his national team in Togo on November 17.
Worse still, Youssef El Arabi is detained in Cameroon, where Morocco played their match against Central Africa, and is not allowed to leave the country due to travel restrictions!
We are sure that many other European clubs will probably face the same problems as a result of not complying with FIFA protocol in matches.
It is clear that our players have faced unacceptable conditions as a result of the failure of some federations to implement the FIFA protocol in international matches, or even separate and strict protocols such as those used by the European Union and most European countries.
While local and continental competitions are entering a decisive stage, it is impossible to determine the extent of the damage caused to our club as a result of our denial of services from our players, whose samples tested positive during or after their international commitments.
As a result, we owe it to ourselves to express our deep disappointment with the policy that leaves clubs completely unprotected, those clubs that invest millions in their efforts to keep football alive, especially at a time of declining revenues.
Most importantly, we express our deep concern about a policy that endangers the health of the players.
As a participant in the European Union Championships and a member of the Association of European Clubs, we believe that the Corona epidemic crisis raises questions about the liability for injuries to footballers, their effects on short and long-term health, protection and even compensation for future earnings, medical expenses or loss of income, and the implementation of a central information system. And detailed by the International Federation and the continental and national federations, especially the obligations related to quarantine, before and during the last two international stops, as well as in the future with the suspension of next March.
For these reasons, we demand that the International Federation, as the highest authority and control of football, take all necessary measures to quickly and effectively address these problems for the benefit of all international and local organizations.
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