West Ham United’s Europa Conference League play-off qualifying round opponents Viborg will be without two of their key players for Thursday night’s first leg tie.
Viborg, who beat Faroe Islands outfit B36 Torshavn to reach the final round of qualification earlier this month, go into the game without two of their key players in their team after complications in getting a visa in time for the match.
Nigerian winger Ibrahim Said, who has previously attracted interest from Premier League clubs, has not travelled due to not being able to get a visa. Gambian forward Alassana Jatta will also miss out. Jatta scored during the 5-1 aggregate win over Torshavn in the last round.
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Both will miss out due to rules over entry for non-EU citizens since Brexit, as confirmed in a club statement.
Viborg’s statement reads (as translated via Google): “The VFF must disregard Ibrahim Said and Alassana Jatta for the away match against West Ham due to the English entry rules for non-EU citizens after Brexit:
“We are extremely sorry that we have not been able to get visas for the two players. We have tried everything, and have been in close contact with DBU, UEFA, the two embassies and another foreign club which has been in a similar situation, but unfortunately this has proved to be impossible, as there is a processing time of several weeks and the match was only finally decided a week ago.
“It is very unfortunate purely sportingly, as both players would have had a role in the match, but even more unfortunate purely humanly, that the two miss out on the great experience, says [coach] Jesper Fredberg.”
West Ham will also be without Aaron Cresswell, Declan Rice and David Moyes for the tie due to suspension. Nayef Aguerd and Angelo Ogbonna are also likely to be absent through injury, while Craig Dawson is also a doubt.
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