The three biggest contests this weekend look like being England v Israel, Italy v France and Club v Country.

England’s Steven Gerrard has a broken toe and despite Liverpool’s protests, the midfielder may take an injection to play in a Euro 2008 qualifier England need to win.
 
France captain Patrick Vieira has missed the start of the Serie A season with a hamstring strain and his club Inter Milan believe he will not be fit for the World Cup final repeat at the San Siro on Saturday. France coach Raymond Domenech, though, thinks the midfielder can last at least an hour and looks ready to take a risk on the former Arsenal man.
 
Such club v country rows crop up nearly every international week and tend to erode good will between the two parties. The arguments also contributed to the international retirements of the likes of Alessandro Nesta, Paul Scholes and Francesco Totti.
 
FIFA and UEFA have started to work out compensation for clubs whose players are injured on international duty but they may have to do more to address the original club v country battles.
 
Maybe it’s time governing bodies or an independent panel rule on whether a player should turn out for their country. They could hear from both parties and then make a quick decision before a game.

The problem is that clubs could then start asking the panel for compensation if a player was cleared to play and his injury got worse. So who’s going to sanction that?

Mark Meadows, Milan