UCL: West Ham Utd 3-1 Viborg FF (18/8/22)

[prophet:marginal]

I'm sorry you read it that way, but we have been punished for fielding ineligiable players before, and massively hurt by 3rd party breaches.

I'm merely pointing out this isn't us.Or at least, I don't think it is.

As for the players, of course it is a disappoinment, their chance to play one of the best clubs in the world, gone, but this is professional football, if we turn up a day late for the reverse fixture, UEFA would kick us out.

How we've misconducted ourselves in the past is surely irrelevant.

And the players in question don't lose the chance to play us, per se, they lose the chance to come to London. They will be rested and revved up to go for the return leg, possibly to our detriment, even given that you're right and we have no control over the visas.

I am not however all that bothered about 'who is to blame', I just don't think this situation is sustainable in the long-term, if there is no emergency route in terms of the visas. It cannot be the case that each possible destination has to have preliminary requests for visas lodged with it, simply to cover every base, in every round of a competition. English clubs feature prominently in 3 such competitions and nearly all teams have non_EU players.

[Italian Hammer]

As a UK citizen with permanent residency in Italy I have no sympathy with Viborg on this. Last March I flew to the UK and had to have an an argument with Italian border control guards to prove my residency status despite having all of my documentation in order and all because they did not know the laws that exist under the brexit withdrawal agreement.

SO there.

[prophet:marginal]

**** happens. Typical West Ham would be to lose to a goal scored by one of the replacement players, however.

**** happens
So, as you appear to agree, does karma.

[Boleyn_Hammer]

Training is open to the media today sign Billy McKinley and Areola doing press after so the status of injuries for tomorrow will likely be confirmed there but…

Shame, was hoping to get a look at Downes tomorrow.

[El brooko79]

So, is it now suggested that, if they didn't sit down and work out the visa requirements for each possible destination, and make preliminary requests of each non-Shengen jurisdiction, it is a visiting club's fault that we in the UK don't have any kind of emergency/fast-track route to obtaining a visa in an emergency?

I don't think the governing body are likely to see it like that, personally, but we shall see.

How many countries could they have gone to?
Would take someone and hour to check visa requirements.

This is a multi million pound business. I'd hope we did it on the FCO website.

I also said the admin side is poor.

[S-H]

Training is open to the media today sign Billy McKinley and Areola doing press after so the status of injuries for tomorrow will likely be confirmed there but…

Shame, was hoping to get a look at Downes tomorrow.

What a **** hole..

[prophet:marginal]

How many countries could they have gone to?
Would take someone and hour to check visa requirements.

This is a multi million pound business. I'd hope we did it on the FCO website.

I also said the admin side is poor.

Its not a question of checking the requirements, it is a question of there being no facility to obtain one within the 7 days between the end of one round of matches and the start of another. That's different and not informed by any answer to your other question.

[Doc H Ball]

Maybe to compensate we should play Priti Patel up front.

[El brooko79]

Its not a question of checking the requirements, it is a question of there being no facility to obtain one within the 7 days between the end of one round of matches and the start of another. That's different and not informed by any answer to your other question.

I said there should be less bureaucracy and therfore quicker processes.
If the game doesn't get postponed and they loose 2 key players that's very harsh.
But they could have done more by checking way before they got drawn against us. I would have.

[prophet:marginal]

How would have checking beforehand sped up the process to make it less than a week?

[prophet:marginal]

Maybe to compensate we should play Priti Patel up front.

She's more comfortable on a certain wing, I've heard.

[El brooko79]

How would have checking beforehand sped up the process to make it less than a week?

I just went on the visa application as a Bolivian. It said it takes 3 weeks. Validating I was a sports professional/official employed overseas.
So I would have applied when I knew we might go.

Atleast raised it as a problem before the day before we travel.
I understand that it shouldn't be this long in exceptional circumstances so as top level sport.

But do your dilligence in Million pound games.

Complaining the day before you fly?

Again, we need to sort out the bureaucracy as it's not just visas. But take some responsibility.

[BondsoBob]

As a UK citizen with permanent residency in Italy I have no sympathy with Viborg on this. Last March I flew to the UK and had to have an an argument with Italian border control guards to prove my residency status despite having all of my documentation in order and all because they did not know the laws that exist under the brexit withdrawal agreement.

SO there.

Does anyone really understand the laws, rules and regulations post Brexit?

[Bubbles Fortuna]

Are we saying that if the ties had been reversed then our non EU players wouldn't have got visas in time to travel to Denmark either?

It's likely that Denmark has different Visa rules from the UK.

[Scratchy]

Anyone expecting a comfortable 4-0 + win is going to be disappointed. They rarely happen when you play league 1 teams in the cup. Professional footballers aren't a million miles away from each other and they're capable of keeping a game tight.

[Doc H Ball]

So I would have applied when I knew we might go.

I'm not sure that's possible. For starters they need to send the passports off.

I think the best you could've done is line up the applications to submit when you knew who the opposition were and by then, for the UK at least, it would be too late regardless.

If it's not the same the other way around, then it raises a question.

[Crouchend_Hammer]

Surely professional sports people representing a club or country should be given special dispensation to come in, play the game/ event, and then leave

[Italian Hammer]

In all seriousness, part of the blame must also lie with Uefa for making the draw so soon before the first match making it nigh on impossible to sort visas in time.

Uefa seem to go out of their way to make these competitions as bloated and complicated as possible, not just in terms of the number of teams taking part but also the way and timing of the the draw and all of the possible outcomes with seeded vs non-seeded, teams unable to compete against teams from the same country etc.

Not surprised this has happened and it won't be the last I imagine.

[Italian Hammer]

Does anyone really understand the laws, rules and regulations post Brexit?

You would have thought a border control guard would, wouldn't you?

[Up the Junction]

Point of order. Viborg knew on 1 August they'd be facing West Ham if they beat B36. So they've had considerably longer than one week to get their house in order.

https://www.kumb.com/story.php?id=137191

Whether two weeks and three days is sufficient time is another question.