The Chilean Football authorities have called in FIFA to intervene, amid the prospect of sanctions being handed down, for Rovers not allowing Ben Brereton to join up with the national team for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Brereton didn’t travel to Santiago to meet up with La Roja squad on Monday ahead of their matches with Brazil, Ecuador and Colombia, the player releasing a statement outlining how he was ‘disappointed’ about the position he found himself in.

The EFL followed the stance of the Premier League in taking a division-wide approach to not allowing players to travel to red list countries for matches during the international break. That was owing to the 10-day quarantine period that would have fallen on players travelling back to the UK upon their return, with no exemptions in place.

That also affected Brereton’s international team-mate, Watford defender Francisco Sierralta, and had he travelled, the Rovers man would have missed the three matches immediately after the break.

Aston Villa and Tottenham agreed to release players for two of the three allotted fixtures during the break so to ensure the quarantine period on their return didn’t see them miss any matches – something the Chile federation said didn’t happen with Rovers.  

Even were exemptions for travel in place, Brereton wouldn’t have featured in Rovers’ game with Luton on September 11, with Chile’s final qualifiers against Colombia getting underway around 36 hours earlier.

However, despite not going away on international duty, he could still be forced to miss that match should sanctions be imposed by FIFA on Rovers for not releasing Brereton for what is an allotted international timeframe.

The prospect of a five-day ban, which would see Brereton miss the game with Luton on September 11 and Hull City on September 14, has been mooted should FIFA opt to impose a sanction - with similar punishments likely to be handed down on Premier League teams for not releasing their internationals.

Chile’s sporting director Francis Cagigao said: “As is quite evident, at this point, the English clubs have not solved the problems they have with the English government, especially with the 10 days of quarantine. We understand that this is a problem that the English league must solve with the English federation and its Government.

“We will follow the FIFA regulations, which is the highest body in the world. We have to repeat, and we understand that the clubs must also respect that the players have to be with their clubs on the FIFA date.

“We have been in talks this whole week. These conversations did not advance and there is no choice but to ask FIFA to intervene in one way or another.”

In his post on social media, Brereton said he hadn’t given up hope of a resolution being reached so he could travel with the Chile squad and look to build on the five caps clocked up during the Copa America. However, that is looking increasingly likely, with their first qualifier against Brazil coming in the early hours of September 3.

“If we can have them here, all the better. It is what we and the players want. And if not, there are consequences and FIFA applies what it has to apply in legislative terms,” Cagigao added.

Tony Mowbray raised the prospect of possible FIFA sanctions when discussing Brereton’s unavailability for Chile.

He said he had spoken with Cagigao last week, adding: “They obviously want Ben to be involved and will do everything they can to protect their federation and we have to protect our football club.”

That will see Brereton remain with Rovers during the window as Rovers wait on further news.

In his statement, Brereton wrote: “I love playing for my club and country and I would never turn down an opportunity to represent either.

“I am really disappointed about the position I find myself in, which appears to have affected players in England more than other countries.

“I hope for a solution soon but this looks less likely with every passing day.

“My support is with La Roja and the players for the qualifiers and I know the team will smash it. Vamos Chile.”

The South American nations are behind in their World Cup qualification matches after the suspension of games in March.

That has seen an extension in the international windows from nine to 11 days to allow them to play three matches in September, October and November, before two more at the turn of the year, to decide who is going to Qatar in December 2022.

Chile are seventh in the 10 team standings with six points from their six games.