James Maddison, Hamza Choudhury and Ayoze Perez were dropped for Leicester’s crunch Premier League clash with West Ham for a breach of Covid protocols.
Foxes boss Brendan Rodgers left the trio out of his squad for the trip to the London Stadium on Sunday – and saw his side go on to lose 3-2 to their top four rivals.
“I can tell you there was a breach,” Rodgers said when asked why Maddison, Choudhury and Perez were missing.
“My objective when coming to Leicester was to create standards on and off the pitch.
“The standards fell way below what we would expect, especially at this stage of the season when we are challenging and fighting. They fell well below that.
“The guys would have been in the squad but as a consequence they weren’t. It wasn’t ideal but that’s how strongly I felt.
“We were coming into a very important game but some things are more important than football.”
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Rodgers admitted Leicester’s Champions League challenge had been undermined by the rule-breaking players but considers the matter closed and will welcome them back into his squad next week for the FA Cup semi-final with Southampton.
“You have to respect what the nation is going through and what our values are,” he added.
“From a personal perspective I was bitterly disappointed. But it’s a mistake that they’ve made and I won’t hold it against them. It’s in the past now.
“They knew what the consequence was and now we draw a line. They rejoin the squad and we prepare for next weekend.”
Maddison’s absence could be hugely damaging for the player’s Euro 2020 hopes.
England boss Gareth Southgate was at the London Stadium on Sunday as he deliberates over his squad for this summer’s finals.
Maddison has been warned over his behaviour by Southgate before – when he was pictured in a casino in 2019 just hours after withdrawing from England duty due to illness.
He has played just once for England but has been in excellent form in recent months and back on Southgate’s radar.
His latest trangression, however, may well prove the end of any chance he had of making the Euro squad.
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While Maddison missed his chance to impress, Jesse Lingard took his – scoring twice for West Ham in a brilliant individual performance as the Hammers ran out 3-2 winners.
Leicester have declined to disclose details of the breach – amid reports the trio had attended a party at Perez’s house – but a spokesman said: “The club has made its expectations around adherence to COVID-19 protocols abundantly clear to all its personnel.
“It is extremely disappointing, therefore, to learn of a breach that had the potential to undermine the efforts of club staff to protect the environments in which our teams train and play. Appropriate measures have been taken to prevent our team bubbles being compromised.
“We wholly expect our people to behave in a way that reflects the national effort and the sacrifices made by our communities to control the spread of the virus.
“Those involved have apologised for their poor judgement. Our response to the matter will be concluded internally.
“Appropriate measures have been taken to prevent our team bubbles being compromised.”
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