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Topics: England, Euro 2024, Gareth Southgate, James Maddison, Curtis Jones, UEFA
Ryan Smart
Topics: England, Euro 2024, Gareth Southgate, James Maddison, Curtis Jones, UEFA
UEFA rules allow England to change their Euro 2024 squad after Friday's official deadline - in specific circumstances.
Gareth Southgate must submit his final 26-man squad to UEFA on Friday, meaning some difficult decisions for the Three Lions boss between now and the deadline.
Thursday brought news in stages about which players would be missing out, with confirmation in the morning that Tottenham's James Maddison and Liverpool's Curtis Jones had left the training camp.
England's final warmup friendly before Euro 2024 is against Iceland on Friday evening - meaning that some players featuring in that matchup may have already been told that they won't be travelling to Germany with their international team-mates.
But while the final squads must be submitted by Friday, nations can still make changes to their lineups in extraordinary circumstances.
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This relates to Article 48 of UEFA's official tournament regulations, which specifically references squad selections.
The regulations state that players can be replaced if they 'become seriously injured or ill' - but only if the team doctor and a UEFA Medical Committee member confirm that the problem is 'sufficiently serious to prevent them from taking part' in Euro 2024.
The rule continues: "Subject to the final approval of the UEFA administration, they may be replaced on the list of 23 players registered for the tournament.
"A. players and goalkeepers may be replaced before their team's first match in the final tournament.
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"B. Goalkeepers may also be replaced before their next match during the final tournament."
As a result, therefore, players who have been told by Southgate that they are not travelling to Germany would still remain in pole position to replace one of the final squad members in the event of serious injury or illness.
The Three Lions, though, will be hoping such an occurrence doesn't happen as they look to keep hold of a settled squad in attempting to win the European Championship for the first time.