Spoilt Premier League stars will be forced to join the rest of the population in trudging through airport security after a rule change put a stop to a ‘special’ loophole.
Football bosses have fought vehemently against the move, claiming that this exhausting extra step on players’ journeys carries a threat of injury.
The league’s CEO Richard Masters has maintained that making sportsmen participate in such checks with everyone else will add to queues before and after internal flights, with the famous faces at risk of being approached by fans.
But such arguments have fallen on deaf ears with the exemption, introduced last year, now set to be closed by the government.
A source told The Sun: ‘This is not a good look for the Premier League.
Spoilt Premier League stars, including Arsenal’s Declan Rice (pictured), will be forced to join the rest of the population in trudging through airport security
The Chelsea team pictured nipping onto a plane at Gatwick in May 2019
Football bosses have fought vehemently against the move, claiming that this exhausting extra step on players’ journeys carries a threat of injury
‘The government clamped down on potential security loopholes, with small planes included in checks.
‘Richard Masters’ lobbying raised eyebrows within the government. It beggars belief he thinks footballers should be treated differently from the rest. He even threatened to go to No 10.
‘It was an ill-conceived point to pick a fight on. He was initially successful but the footballers are now having to toe the line.’
The Department for Transport said: ‘Aviation security is of paramount importance to keep passengers safe.
‘That is why all aircraft passengers are fully screened before they travel.’
This is not the first time mollycoddled footballers have made headlines for their somewhat detached attitude to air travel.
Last month, Cristian Romero reposted a tweet from an Argentine journalist that claimed Tottenham ‘gave an advantage’ to Arsenal because they ‘were the only Premier League club’ that did not lay on travel arrangements for their stars to get back to England.
Some clubs do provide private travel to get their long-haul players back faster. Arsenal’s Brazilians were back in training by Thursday.
The league’s CEO Richard Masters has maintained that making sportsmen participate in such checks with everyone else will add to queues
Steven Gerrard pictured having a torrid time at airport security in South Africa in 2010
Thee exemption, introduced last year, is now set to be closed by the government
Spurs, meanwhile, were happy for Romero to travel back on the flights arranged by Argentina, ready for training on Friday.
Tottenham will supply travel for international players if they think it is necessary. On this occasion they did not.
Premier League clubs have previously spent lavish sums in order to get their players back earlier and snatch a marginal gain.
In November 2016 Liverpool, Manchester City, and Paris Saint-Germain split the cost of a £120,000 private jet to fly back stars from their Brazilian escapades.
City, Liverpool, and Manchester United then clubbed together in October 2021 to whizz back an elite quota of nine stars from Brazil and Uruguay for a six-figure fee.
Then, in November 2021, things got even more cosy.
Not only did stars from rival Premier League clubs fly back together, but they were in such genial spirits that they posted about their love-in on the web.
Liverpool’s Alisson posted a smiling snap with team-mate Fabinho, Man City’s Ederson and Gabriel Jesus, Manchester United midfielder Fred and Leeds winger Raphinha, with the Reds keeper who was holding a small glass of red wine captioning the photo on Instagram: ‘Let’s go home.’
Romero retweeted a post from an Argentina journalist saying Spurs had given Arsenal an ‘advantage’ after forcing him to make his own travel arrangements
Clubs often put on private jets for their stars. Left to right, Fabinho, Fred, Ederson, Raphinha, Alisson and Gabriel Jesus are pictured in 2021
Philippe Coutinho accompanied Brazil team-mates Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus, Willian, Ederson and Roberto Firmino back to England in 2017
Others have been known to admirably shun the treatment. Last season Heung Min-son shunned the prospect of a private jet to travel to South Korea duty – admittedly in Wales – by train.
He and Ben Davies rocked up at Cardiff Central Station in casual clothes after taking a commuter train and hugged before going their separate ways, as per The Sun.
However the stars of the footballing world choose to jet across the world, from now on they will be forced to bear the burden of boring security queues like the rest of us.