Qatar urged to allow unjabbed World Cup stars to train in isolation

Qatar will come under pressure to allow unvaccinated World Cup stars to train in isolation if the country maintains its five-day quarantine rule for November’s World Cup, with a number of England players unlikely to make the first game against Iran because they have not been jabbed.

At present unvaccinated visitors to Qatar must quarantine in a hotel and with England playing Iran on November 21 — eight days after the Premier League season pauses — it would be almost impossible to be match fit for the World Cup opener unless the rules change.

England are expected to arrive on November 14 at the earliest, meaning unvaccinated players would likely have one day to train with the team and do group work following five days of isolation.

At present that would mean being confined to a hotel room but it is possible that players could stay in designated hotels near sports facilities and have socially distanced daily training.

That could minimise the physical impact, though the group work and team bonding on which Gareth Southgate places great value would inevitably be disrupted unless the rules are relaxed or all the players are vaccinated.

The issue is in the spotlight again following the withdrawal of players from club tours to the USA, which requires visitors to be fully vaccinated to enter.

Manchester City flew to Houston yesterday without Phil Foden, John Stones and Ilkay Gundogan. Midfielder Gundogan is said to be missing after only receiving one dose of the vaccine.

The 31-year-old had the jab last year and, given he had already caught the virus, was deemed fully vaccinated under German law.

He had planned to take a second dose this summer before the trip stateside but, after contracting Covid in June, was advised against