Liverpool could be joined by other Premier League clubs in refusing to release their players for next month’s World Cup qualifiers due to coronavirus quarantine rules as the club ramped up the club-versus-country crisis.

The Merseyside outfit have told the Egyptian and Brazilian football associations they would not allow Mohamed Salah (Egypt), Roberto Firmino, Alisson and Fabinho (all Brazil) to travel to any countries on the UK’s red list.

But they are unlikely to be the only club to do so as the Premier League and other members of the World Leagues Forum said earlier this month they would “fully support” those refusing to release players for international duty.

Travelling to a red-list country during the window would mean Premier League players missing crucial domestic matches while they are placed in hotel quarantine for 10 days upon their return. But failure to turn up for what are vital World Cup qualifiers would risk a sanction from Fifa amid a fixture backlog caused by the Covid-19 crisis.

The governing body previously staved off a club-versus-country row by a combination of postponing matches and allowing clubs to refuse to release players for internationals if it meant them having to quarantine.

The postponements have led to both next month’s and October’s South American qualifiers being changed from double- to triple-headers amid fears it would otherwise be impossible to squeeze all games in before the World Cup.

Clubs and leagues have reacted with fury to what they have branded a “unilateral” decision, one which could deprive them of players even in the absence of quarantine restrictions.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]