BOGOTA (AP) – South American soccer teams trying to secure a spot at the Tokyo Olympics will have to do without some of their best Under-23 players at an upcoming qualifying tournament.
The region's Pre-Olympic Tournament begins on Saturday in Colombia without many of the top players that are eligible, including Brazil's Real Madrid duo Rodrygo and Vinicius Júnior and Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli. Argentina is without Inter Milan's Lautaro Martínez and Lisandro Martínez of Ajax, while host Colombia is missing Luis Fernando Díaz of Porto.
The main reason is that the tournament is not an official FIFA event, and so clubs have no obligation to make their players available.