Exeter City anger after Kamari Doyle called up by England U20s - but League One game goes ahead

EXETER City have expressed their frustration and disappointment that Saturday’s League One clash must go ahead despite three players from the Grecians’ squad now being away on international duty.

It was announced yesterday that on-loan Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Kamari Doyle has become the third Grecian to be called up for national service, along with Ilmari Niskanen (Finland) and Northern Ireland striker Josh Magennis, who were both summoned for action last week.

Having three away on international duty should allow City to postpone their league game with the Imps on Saturday, but as Doyle was only called up this week by England Under-20s, having initially been on a standby list, it means Exeter have missed the ‘five clear days’ ruling which is place for clubs to call off a game for international call-ups.

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Now, they are without three key men for an important clash against an Imps side that are fourth in the League One standings, much to the anger and disgust of manager Gary Caldwell.

“It’s hard not to feel like we have been unfairly treated by the EFL and its call-up protocol, and in particular the inconsistency between fixture cancellation and call up timings,” he said.

“As the leading supporter owned club in England, we are used to facing the continual financial challenge of competing against much bigger clubs in League One and decisions like this only highlight the constant challenges that smaller clubs like ours face at this level.

“We will continually meet this challenge through our determined squad, our phenomenal academy success and our amazing fans. It is hard enough to compete against these odds without being penalised by rules that no longer seem fit for purpose in the current financial climate of League One, and call into question the sporting integrity of the league overall.”

It is hard to disagree with Caldwell with more and more clubs in the third tier having players called up for international duty and this adds more weight to the Scot’s call for a league-wide break for international games, not just the premier League and Championship.

Asked about it after Saturday’s 1-0 win over Charlton Athletic, the boss said: “It’s a joke that the league still goes on. If we call games off for three, why not two, or not at all? League One is full of international players and most teams get games called off but it kind of devalues the league a bit when we have to play a game without our best players.”