England’s right-back problems have worsened after Jarell Quansah was handed a two-game suspension following his red card, which was classified as serious foul play by Fifa’s disciplinary committee. The automatic one-game ban was extended by an additional match, ruling the 23-year-old out of Saturday’s quarter-final against Norway at 22:00 BST and a potential semi-final against Argentina or Switzerland. Quansah would be available again should England reach the final in New Jersey on 19 July.
The Football Association made strong representations to Fifa over the process behind the decision, BBC Sport has been told. The FA argued that the referee was shown a still image of the tackle and slow-motion replays before being shown the incident in real-time on the pitchside screen, raising concerns that this approach could have resulted in what they described as ‘outcome bias’. The FA also pointed out that in the Premier League, officials are shown incidents at full speed first, though England’s top flight is an outlier in that regard.
The ban leaves head coach Thomas Tuchel short of options at right-back. Quansah had stepped in against Mexico while Reece James was injured, with Djed Spence only used as a substitute after a minor fitness issue. Assistant coach Anthony Barry described the news as ‘disappointing’, saying England lose a player who ‘was excellent in training’ and that the suspension represents ‘just another hurdle that we have to overcome’.
Winger Bukayo Saka called the ban ‘incredibly frustrating for us, and for him’, but struck a determined tone. ‘It is what it is, we are not here to complain, we are here to adapt and to pick a team that is ready to beat Norway,’ he said.
Fifa has confirmed that French referee Clement Turpin, who took charge of England’s 4-2 win over Croatia, will officiate the Norway quarter-final.
Image credit: BBC Sport / BBC Sport
