Nélson Semedo Forced to Miss Barcelona Training After Breaching Quarantine Guidelines
By Tom Gott
Barcelona right-back Nélson Semedo has been forced into a period of self-isolation after breaking quarantine guidelines just days before La Liga is set to get back underway.
Sevilla and Real Betis will kick of proceedings on Thursday evening, with Barcelona's first fixture coming against Real Mallorca on Saturday.
Semedo's involvement in that fixture is now in doubt, as Deportes Cuatro have revealed that the right-back went against club and government policy by meeting up with 20 people for a friend's birthday party on Monday.
As Barcelona is still in Phase Two of the plan for returning to normality, locals are not allowed to go out in groups of more than 15 people, and they are also urged to avoid spending time with too many people from other households - two things which Semedo decided to ignore.
After learning of Semedo's little adventure, Barcelona quickly banned him from returning to training as he would pose a risk to the rest of the squad, confirming on Twitter that they had no choice but to do so in accordance with league protocol.
Training session with available first team players. N. Semedo did not train as per protocol established by La Liga. pic.twitter.com/Fl3iaLODFu
— FC Barcelona (from ?) (@FCBarcelona) June 11, 2020
Semedo isn't the first La Liga player to fall foul of the rules. Sevilla quartet Éver Banega, Lucas Ocampos, Franco Vázquez and Luuk de Jong were all caught sharing a lunch in May, and Real Madrid striker Luka Jović has been caught out a few times.
Jović recently attended a barbecue alongside Atlético Madrid's Ivan Šaponjić and Getafe's Nemanja Maksimović, and the trio were all seen disobeying social distancing regulations.
Barcelona are yet to confirm whether they will take any action against Semedo, but this situation will likely add to the speculation surrounding his future at Camp Nou.
With two years remaining on his current contract, Semedo has been heavily linked with a move elsewhere. Manchester City, Juventus and Atlético have all been linked, but Barcelona are eager to tie him down to a new contract.