Joel Matip’s participation in Liverpool’s FA Cup third round replay against Plymouth Argyle remains in doubt after Jurgen Klopp confirmed FIFA will not begin the process of resolving a row over the defender’s eligibility until Friday.
In what is becoming an increasingly complex diplomatic issue, the possibility exists that Liverpool could be punished retrospectively should they select Matip in a competitive game as a result of the centre back not being involved in the African Nations Cup with Cameroon.
Liverpool’s position, though, is that Matip has retired from international football and as such should not be subject to FIFA rules which stipulate that an absent player cannot be selected by his club until five days after Cameroon’s participation in the tournament has ended.
Faced with that uncertainty, Klopp took the decision to withdraw Matip from his squad for Liverpool’s Premier League game away to Old Trafford on Sunday. With the matter still unresolved ahead of tomorrow night’s visit to Plymouth, Klopp now has to decide whether to select Matip and run the risk of FIFA sanctions or to err on the caution by leaving Matip out once more.
The Liverpool manager’s decision has been made all the more difficult by the knowledge that FIFA will not even open case on the matter until Friday, although the situation could be resolved before then if the President of the Cameroon Football Federation, Joseph Owona, confirms Matip’s retirement has been accepted.
(Photo by Dave Thompson/Getty Images)
“I have not been in a situation like this in my life,” Klopp admitted. “I don’t want to blame anybody but our supporters deserve to know the process we are in. The thing is, in this moment, we are sure – we do not think – we did nothing wrong.
“We are sure Joel Matip did nothing wrong. He did not play for Cameroon since 2015. Since he was here, he is not a Cameroon national player. He is in this moment not in the squad of Cameroon, so he could not play for sure for Cameroon. But we have no 100 per cent guarantee he could play for us. That is how it is.
“The last few weeks we were getting more and more busy for all the departments for LFC and the procedure is that I would consider to line him up tomorrow but I am not sure if I can. From a sport side, it makes perfect sense [to select Matip].
“FIFA told us on Friday – last Friday – they will decide next Friday – this Friday – if they will open a case about it or not. I accept rules in life but I think they should always be based on human sense. I am not a lawyer or a legal person, so it is pretty difficult.
“If we go to Friday and if FIFA opens a case, I don’t know. I don’t think they will because we are really sure that everything is all right. But if it is what they already told us, then it would be another 7-10 [from then] days until we get a decision.”
Klopp underlined his own frustration at the matter by admitting that while he can accept sporting decisions going against his team, as was the case on Sunday when United’s equalising goal should have been disallowed for off-side, he finds it harder to come to terms with bureaucracy interfering in his plans.
“We concede an offside goal at Man United and it doesn’t feel good,” he added. “Sometimes you score an offside goal, sometimes you concede one. That is how it is. But, in this case, we cannot do more. It is hard. Really hard.
(Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
“Of course Joel is not happy about it. I told him before the United game: ‘Sorry – I can’t pick you’. That is what we all have to think about. We are not the only club in this situation. There is Schalke in Germany, West Brom of course and the Ajax goalkeeper.
“It is really difficult to get in contact with the people and that is the situation. We are all sitting here because what we do is really important. We need to know where we have to go.
“If you have an injured player, you know one week, treatment, they are available. You can try and be there a day earlier if it is possible. Now we have to wait for a fit player who is very good in training and was not playing for Cameroon for 16 months?
“It’s difficult. Really, really difficult to accept. We need to see what we can do.”
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