BY Jonathan Ledger
The World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina was on Sunday invaded by health officials over allegations that some Argentine players flouted COVID-19 rules.
The match was eventually declared suspended by CONMEBOL, South America’s football governing body, after an hour of deliberations.
“By decision of the match referee, the match organised by FIFA between Brazil and Argentina for the World Cup qualifiers is suspended,” CONMEBOL said in a statement released on Twitter.
Officials of Anvisa, Brazil’s health regulatory body for COVID-19 travel compliance, invaded the Corinthians Stadium to stop the match eight minutes after kick-off.
The COVID-19 compliance enforcers wanted to detain Argentine players who had flouted the rules.
According to Brazil’s health law, individuals who have been in the UK in the last 14 days are to undergo isolation on entering the country.
This meant Emiliano Martínez, Giovanni Lo Celso, Christian Romero and Emiliano Buendia — four Argentina players from the English Premier League (EPL) — were expected to be quarantined on Saturday.
CONMEBOL said necessary action would be taken by FIFA in due course.
“The referee and the match commissioner will submit a report to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, which will determine the steps to be followed. This procedure strictly adheres to current regulations,” CONMEBOL said.
“The World Cup qualifiers is a FIFA competition. All decisions concerning its organization and development are the exclusive power of that institution.”
Argentina’s players left the stadium while the Brazilian team turned the postponed game into a training session.
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