‘Renan Lodi was excluded from the possibility of being called up due to his non-vaccination’
Atletico Madrid full-back Renan Lodi has missed out on a call-up to the Brazil squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers because of his vaccination status.
Brazil boss Tite confirmed that the 23-year-old would not be in the squad for matches against Ecuador and Paraguay ‘due to his non-vaccination’, which prevented him from having ‘a chance to compete’.
“Renan Lodi was excluded from the possibility of being called up due to his non-vaccination,” Tite told reporters on Thursday.
“He missed the chance to compete (for a place).”
The team’s director, Juninho Paulista, added that Lodi wouldn’t have been able to enter Ecuador, where Brazil play on January 27 in Quito.
He noted that current restrictions in Ecuador require those entering the country to be fully vaccinated.
Brazilian manager Tite has just said Renan Lodi (Atlético Madrid) has not been selected for the national because he’s not fully vaccinated. pic.twitter.com/gNQIZ9NZNd
— Joao Castelo-Branco (@j_castelobranco) January 13, 2022
According to RMC Sport, Lodi has received one dose of the vaccine – however, because he is not yet fully vaccinated against the virus, he would still not have been allowed to enter Ecuador without quarantining.
“He only received the first dose on January 10. He could not enter Ecuador due to current health protocols and would be subject to restrictions in Brazil,” said Juninho Paulista, coordinator of Seleção.
As well as this, the Atletico defender would need to enter a five-day quarantine when flying to Brazil ahead of the match against Paraguay in Belo Horizonte on February 1.
The 60-year-old Tite also said that he does not agree with people who are reluctant to get vaccinated against Covid-19.
He said: “I personally believe that vaccination is a social responsibility, it’s both mine and the person’s alongside me.”
With Lodi not included in the squad, Tite opted to recall veteran right back Dani Alves, with Philippe Coutinho also named in the 26-man squad.
Coutinho – who has not played for Brazil since October 2020 – returns to the squad just days after he returned to the Premier League on loan, where he will play under former Liverpool team-mate Steven Gerrard at Aston Villa.
Brazil have already qualified for the Qatar World Cup and sit top of the 10-team South American group, but FIFA are yet to decide on the outcome of their suspended game against Argentina in Sao Paulo in September.
The match was stopped after just seven minutes as four England-based Argentina players had allegedly breached coronavirus protocols.
“In terms of sport, we remained on the pitch and played. We stayed and did the right thing. In legal terms, of the country, we did the right thing,” Tite said.
“Now, I’m waiting on FIFA and what its final response will be.”
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