Brexit immigration laws have prevented Viborg from fielding two players against West Ham United in the Europa Conference League.
The two sides are set to meet at the London Stadium on Thursday night in the first leg of their play-off round clash, with the winners of the tie advancing to the group stage. However, Viborg confirmed on Wednesday morning that they will be without Nigerian winger Ibrahim Said and Gambian striker Alassana Jatta for the match.
The club have blamed post-Brexit immigration rules for non-EU citizens for the issue, which will leave them without two key attacking threats for the crucial first leg.
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“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,” reads the official club statement.
Meanwhile, sporting director Jesper Fredberg added: “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.
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“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.”
Viborg were only confirmed as the Hammers’ play-off opponents last week after they completed a 5-1 aggregate victory over B36 Torshavn of the Faroe Islands.
Having booked their place in Europe through a domestic play-off at the end of last season’s Danish Superliga, Viborg joined the Europa Conference League at the second qualifying round, where they beat Lithuanian side Suduva.
As for West Ham, who qualified for the competition by finishing seventh in the Premier League, the play-off round will mark their debut in the Europa Conference League as they look to build on their run to the semi-finals of the Europa League last season.
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