SERBIA could be without a raft of important players for the upcoming Euro 2020 play-off final against Scotland after Italian authorities denied players the opportunity to travel.
The local health boards in Lazio and Tuscany have not granted footballers permission to leave the country and return, meaning that players from Fiorentina, Genoa, Lazio and Roma cannot be called up for international duty as it stands.
The health authorities have also said that players from two additional Serie A clubs – Inter Milan and Sassuolo – will not be allowed to join up with their national squads for the next round of fixtures.
Clubs are usually obliged to release their players when they are called up by their national teams but in this instance it is the Italian health boards, and not the clubs, who have blocked the move.
That means that Serbian captain Aleksander Kolorov and star midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic are both currently ruled out of the fixture, as is Sassuolo midfielder Filip Duricic, and Fiorentina duo Nikola Milenkovic and Dusan Vlahovic.
Scotland face Serbia in Belgrade this coming Thursday in a one-off match where victory can end our decades-long wait to qualify for a major tournament.
The players affected could yet be granted permission to join up with their respective international team-mates if an agreement can be struck between each country’s federation and the relevant health authority.
No action has yet been taken by the Serbian FA or UEFA on the matter.
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