Only a few weeks after witnessing a completely illogical decision of the English FA, and withdrawing its national team form he Euro 2022 Qualifiers, a similar thing happened to Scottish Futsal champion Perth Youth Futsal Saltiers.
Due to Covid-19 concerns, PYF will not be able to travel to Berne and play a match against Switzerland champion Minerva in the one-legged Prelmininary round of Futsal Champions League 2020/21 that starts next week.
The main "culprit" for the travelling ban is Scottish Government but the result is the same - two countries that will have their representatives on the football EURO will miss two major European futsal competitions (UFCL 2020/21 and UFE 2022).
Perth Youth Futsal official statement:
Unfortunately due to COVID-19 concerns the club will not be able to fulfil our fixture against Futsal Minerva next week.
This is a decision that has not been taken lightly, the club were initially informed on 27th October by the SFA that we would receive a letter of exemption for quarantining on return so we have prepared on this basis.
Yesterday morning, one week before the game, we received an email from the Scottish Government stating that they will no longer be providing this for the travelling players and staff. This decision now leaves us with limited first team players, no coaching or medical staff which leaves us unable to travel.
On top of this, without the Scottish Government’s support and due to new government laws coming into place, the travelling players would be breaking the law if we were to travel outwith Perth & Kinross and the club is not willing to put our players in this situation.
We are deeply upset to be forced into this decision, we have worked hard to prepare for this match in the current pandemic, spent thousands of pounds and put in many many hours on and off the training ground to ensure we were following all of UEFA and Scot Gov protocols safely.
Finally, we would like to thank our club committee and the players for their efforts during this pandemic. Also we would like to thank Futsal Minerva for their co-operation in the preparations we have made this far and wish you all the best in the competition.