By Goal.com News on Friday, 19 March 2021
Category: Goal.com News

Depay calls for full quarantine waiver for non-French internationals after Les Bleus handed preferential treatment

Didier Deschamps' side travels to Kazakhstan later this month, with players selected for the fixtures to be allowed to forgo quarantine

Memphis Depay has called upon the French government to grant a waiver for all international footballers to be exempt from the mandatory period of self-isolation, after it was confirmed that the France national team will be exempt from restrictions.

Didier Deschamps' Les Bleus travel to Kazakhstan later this month as part of their 2022 World Cup qualifiers schedule, with players selected for the fixtures allowed to forgo quarantine upon their return to the country.

But those rules apply only to France's own squad, with other French-based internationals still subject to restrictions, sparking a protest from the Lyon forward after he was called into Frank de Boer's Netherlands squad this week.

What has Depay said?

The attacker took to social media to air his dissatisfaction with the preferential treatment for homegrown players 

"French government, can I please join the national team on Monday[?]" the 27-year-old wrote on Twitter

"That would be fair since y’all make an exception for the France national team that travels outside of Europe to play games as well!!!"

The bigger picture

With this month's World Cup qualifiers set to be the last chance for nations to firm up their squads ahead of the rearranged Euro 2020 tournament this summer, Depay's frustration is palpable.

Travel to link up with his country and he will be forced to miss out on part of Lyon's crucial run-in to the domestic season as they battle for a Ligue 1 title.

Spurn the call and it could potentially damage his standing within the Netherlands squad.

Further reading

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