Man City's injured Jesus ruled out of Brazil qualifiers

FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - Premier League - Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City - Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, Britain - September 21, 2020 Manchester City's Gabriel Jesus celebrates scoring their third goal Pool via REUTERS

Brazil forward Gabriel Jesus will be sidelined for next month’s World Cup qualifiers after being injured in Manchester City’s Premier League match at Wolverhampton Wanderers, the Brazilian football federation (CBF) said Friday.

The CBF said in a statement that Jesus would be replaced by Hertha Berlin’s Matheus Cunha for the matches against Bolivia and Peru.

Jesus will be out for at least three weeks, missing City’s matches at home to Leicester City in the Premier League on Sunday plus Wednesday’s League Cup fourth round tie at Burnley and the league game at Leeds United on Oct. 3.

“The English club have contacted the Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmas to inform us of the injury to Gabriel Jesus, which was detected after the match against Wolverhampton,” it said.

Brazil are due to host Bolivia in Sao Paulo on Oct. 9 and visit Peru in Lima four days later as the 2022 World Cup qualifiers get under way in South America.

However, the global players’ union FIFPRO has expressed concern that the matches are being played in one of the regions most badly affected by COVID-19.

The problem is further complicated because many South American players will have to travel from Europe, North America and Asia and could also face quarantine on returning to their clubs afterwards.