Why is Jhon Duran not playing for Colombia at the 2023 FIFA Under-20 World Cup?

Colombia is part of Group C they share the group with Japan, Israel and Senegal, and their first game of the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup is expected to be an easy victory against Israel.

But Colombia will not have some key players for this World Cup including Oscar Cortes (Millionarios FC) and it is speculated that Yaser Asprilla (Watford) will not be available for this tournament either.

Despite the absent players Colombia has a solid squad with two forwards who have enough experience playing with the U-20 National team.

Why is Jhon Duran not playing for Colombia at the 2023 FIFA Under-20 World Cup?

Unfortunately he will not be available because his team in England, Aston Villa, did not want to give Duran permission to play for Colombia in the World Cup. They are not obliged to let him play.

Although it is an official FIFA tournament, the teams have no legal obligation to let players play in such tournaments. They have the last word.

This will be the second time Duran has missed a big tournament with his national team, in 2023 he was unable to play for Colombia during the U-20 South American tournament.