England’s Beth Mead says World Cup release date row ‘unfair’ on players

Beth Mead believes players cannot be the “middleman” in the club v country row that is threatening England’s preparations for next month’s World Cup.

The players have been told that the Football Association is still planning for them to assemble on 19 June, the Observer understands. However, that would put them in a difficult position, with their clubs yet to reach an agreement over the Lionesses’ release for international duty.

Also some players, frustrated to be caught in the middle, are booking into the hotel at England’s St George’s Park training base just in case they have to begin preparations themselves.

In April, the European Club Association raised concerns over national teams’s plans to call up players well before the official Fifa-sanctioned release date of the 10 July, while acknowledging that 10 days before the World Cup kicks off in Australia and New Zealand was inadequate.

An agreement was reached on a non-mandatory suggested release window of 23-29 June to try to strike a balance between the demands of national teams and clubs.

However, Sarina Wiegman, England’s manager, said on Wednesday that they were still in “very constructive” talks that were not “not finalised” and targeting 19 June as the date her World Cup squad would gather. Her internationals and their clubs had been told of the plans in November, although the clubs are frustrated then that no formal agreement was reached.

“It’s a difficult one,” said Mead, speaking at the Uefa House of We Play Strong event before the Women’s Champions League final between Wolfsburg and Barcelona. “Scheduling is a big [topic] at the moment and us, as players, should have that decision taken away from us, we don’t want to be the middleman for it, because it’s not