Premier League sides are giving serious considering to ignoring threats from FIFA about playing their South American stars this weekend.
Most English sides broke FIFA protocol and refused to release their South American internationals for the recent fixtures amid concerns that any player involved would be forced to serve a ten-day quarantine period upon their return - and would therefore miss a handful of matches.
Clubs are not permitted to block international call-ups, and as a result, FIFA are looking to punish the teams in question by banning their South American stars for five days.
Facing suspensions are Liverpool trio Alisson, Fabinho and Roberto Firmino, Manchester City duo Ederson and Gabriel Jesus, Chelsea's Thiago Silva, Manchester United's Fred, Leeds' Raphinha and Watford's Francisco Sierralta.
It's all got a little bit out of hand, with Premier League managers left livid at the suggestion that their top talents could be banned. Now, BBC Sport report there is a growing feeling that they may just ignore FIFA and play the players anyway.
Talks are underway between the Premier League, FIFA and the international sides in question, in an attempt to reach a positive result, as was achieved in talks with Paraguay and Mexico.
Those two nations had initially complained to FIFA after Newcastle's Miguel Almiron and Wolves' Raul Jimenez failed to report for international duty, but those concerns have since been dropped and the two players are free to play this weekend.
Such an agreement has not been found with Brazil, Argentina and Chile, who are looking to see nine Premier League stars banned for five days - although Firmino is injured and unavailable this weekend anyway.
To complicate things even more, Brazil have declined to push for a punishment for Everton forward Richarlison, instead allowing the Toffees to keep their star as a show of thanks for their decision to free Richarlison up for the Olympics this summer.
Talks will continue with the relevant authorities in the hope of finding an amicable agreement, but it seems as though Premier League clubs are ready to take matters into their own hands.
Source : 90min