Leeds United have blocked Junior Firpo from representing Dominican Republic in the Olympics this month, keeping him at their pre-season camp in Germany.
Leeds’ promotion chase in the Championship needs a fast start after the debacle of last August, and for that, Daniel Farke needs all of his players committed to the cause.
At the moment, that looks to be the case with a strong side beating Hannover 96 in a friendly on Wednesday.
Junior Firpo blocked from Dominican Republic involvement in Olympics tournament
Earlier in the summer, it was revealed that Junior Firpo was to be named in Dominican Republic’s final squad for the Olympics, off the back of making his debut for the country in June playing in a much more attacking role.
However, it has now been confirmed that Leeds have not granted the left-back permission to represent his country for the tournament:
The Olympics tournament doesn’t fall into the FIFA calendar, meaning clubs hold the power to veto any involvement from their players in the competition, as they did with Mateo Joseph previously.
Junior Firpo not pleased as he remains at Leeds training camp
With Firpo part of the side that took on Hannover on Wednesday, starting at left-back in the first half, he is seemingly not pleased with being blocked from representing his country of birth.
Taking to Instagram, he shared this message about the decision
“I tried in every way given the excitement that made me live this experience and represent my country in such an important and unique event. But at the end of the day you have to respect the decision of the club I represent.
“I wanted to thank the coach and his coaching staff for having waited for me until the last moment and wish my teammates all the luck in the world. I will be cheering from home like anyone else.”
Firpo will be justifiably upset at Leeds’ decision, but needs must
Farke commented post-match yesterday that we have too few full-back options as it is right now, so the last thing we’d look to do is let another player leave.
Firpo is so important to the way we build up in attack, so letting him play for his country in the Olympics was just never on the cards.
It’s good to know he’s taken the decision with a good attitude even though he has every right to be upset at being denied the opportunity
