Why Leeds United cannot repeat international break block to stop Ao Tanaka adding to Elland Road injury crisis
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Ampadu will miss at least the next 10 weeks with a lateral collateral knee ligament injury but does not require surgery, unlike Bulgaria international Gruev who is set to miss an extended period and will undergo a meniscus repair procedure following his withdrawal against Norwich City earlier this week.
The pair's sidelining leaves Leeds with Tanaka, Joe Rothwell and yet-to-debut teenager Charlie Crew as Daniel Farke's remaining central midfield options until the New Year at the earliest.
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Hide AdWith two international breaks still to come before the end of the year, Leeds fans are understandably concerned by the prospect of Tanaka going away with Japan only to return to Thorp Arch having picked up an injury of his own.
Twenty-six-year-old summer signing Tanaka has already been called up to the Japan squad for this month's FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Saudi Arabia and Australia and now faces an 18,000-mile round-trip to the Far East, via Saudi city Jeddah, before Leeds' next home game against Sheffield United.
Supporters have asked why Leeds cannot pull rank as Tanaka's employer and prevent him from going on international duty. After all, Leeds did so to deny Junior Firpo and Mateo Joseph the opportunity to play for the Dominican Republic and Spain, respectively, at this summer's Olympic Games.
The answer, though, is a simple one and outlined clearly in FIFA's rules on the 'release of players to association teams'.
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Hide Ad"Clubs are obliged to release their registered players to the representative teams of the country for which the player is eligible to play on the basis of his nationality if they are called up by the association concerned. Any agreement between a player and a club to the contrary is prohibited.
"The release of players under the terms of paragraph 1 of this article is mandatory for all international windows listed in the international match calendar as well as for the final competitions of the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Confederations Cup and the championships for 'A' representative teams of the confederations, subject to the relevant association being a member of the organising confederation," FIFA's regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, states.
How Leeds' stance towards the Olympics differs is that the football tournament at the Games is governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), not FIFA, therefore FIFA's rules do not apply. This permits clubs to withhold their players from participating if they so wish, which in Leeds' case they did, as the tournament clashed with pre-season preparations and the opening match of the 2024/25 Championship campaign.
Of course, the way in which these mandatory obligations are policed can be circumvented should a player report an injury prior to joining up with their national team, only to be named in their club's starting lineup following the international break. It is difficult for FIFA to prove a minor injury has or hasn't been sustained, or that illness has prevented them from travelling to represent their countries, but it is greatly frowned upon.
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Hide AdNeedless to say, players are often keen to reunite with their national team peers and take pride in representing their countries.
In many ways, Leeds' hands are tied if Tanaka decides to honour his Japan call-up this month and will be forced to wait patiently on his injury-free return in just under two weeks' time.
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