Ajax refused to let their two Moroccan players, Noussair Mazraoui and Zakaria Labyad, join up with their national team squad for the friendly game against Senegal as they will have to be subjected to a 14-day quarantine upon their return to Amsterdam.
The number of players who can’t make it to the Moroccan camp rose to four as Fenerbahçe’s winger Nabil Dirar will miss out on the game after he earlier tested positive for Covid-19 while Zouhair Feddal will be absent due to the injury he picked up with his club, Sporting CP. This forced the Bosnian coach Vahid Halilhodžić to call up the duo Yunis Abdelhamid and Achraf Lazaar. Ajax announced on Wednesday that four of their players would not be allowed to travel out of the Netherlands for international duty and will remain in Amsterdam with the club due to the 14-day quarantine rule. As well as the two Moroccans, Ghanaian Mohammed Kudus and Burkinabe lacina Traore have been prevented from going. Kudus was set to join his national team before their games against Mali and Iran in Turkey, Burkina Faso will have to cope without the efforts of Traoré when they face Congo and Madagascar next week in Morocco, while Morocco will play against Senegal and Congo on 9 and 13 October. Ajax’s decision came in compliance with FIFA’s regulations as clubs are free not to allow their players to join their national teams this month due to the health and quarantine measures they will have to undergo in different airports.