The South American classic between Brazil and Argentina came to a surreal end on Sunday. Officials from the Brazilian health department Anvisa stormed the Corinthians Arena lawn in São Paulo in the 6th minute to take away four Argentinian national players. The reason: violations of the applicable corona rules in Brazil.
The Argentine team then left the field. After a break of more than half an hour, the Argentine association Afa and the South American association Conmebol confirmed that the game for the qualification for the 2022 World Cup had been canceled. The referee and the Conmebol observer had been asked to prepare a special report.
Brazil now threatens to lose at the “green table”
Brazil now threatens to lose the game at the “green table”. The Brazilians have so far led the table of the South American group with seven wins from seven games.
The scandal revolved around the Argentine England legionaries Emiliano Martínez, Emiliano Buendía (both Aston Villa), Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero (both Tottenham). They were accused by the Brazilian authorities of providing false information when entering the country.
They evidently suppressed the fact that they had been in England in the past two weeks. Great Britain is considered a high-risk corona area in Brazil. People entering Brazil from Great Britain must be in quarantine for a period of fourteen days. The England professionals had probably only stated to have been in Venezuela. Argentina played its previous World Cup qualifier there on Thursday.
The head of Anvisa, Antonio Barra Torres, told the Brazilian TV broadcaster O Globo that the affected players must leave Brazil immediately. They face not only expulsion but also a fine for violating the country’s health rules. The Brazilian England pros had not traveled home for the game as they would have had to be quarantined when they returned to the UK. Their clubs forbade them to travel to South America.
Chaotic scenes played out on the lawn. The public health officials had appeared with a list under their arm, which apparently had the names of the four England professionals. After several minutes of debate and a special kind of pack formation, the Argentines withdrew into the dressing room. No goals had been scored yet. Later Argentina captain Lionel Messi and coach Lionel Scaloni returned. Messi was no longer wearing the jersey, just a shirt, and debated with Brazil’s captain Neymar and national coach Tite, among others. The TV station’s microphones captured Messi saying, “Either we all play or we go.”
The situation of the Argentine England professionals had caused a stir in the hours before the game. Officials of the Brazilian Federal Police had presented themselves at the team hotel of the Argentine team in São Paulo. Only after an intervention by the South American Association Conmebol were the Argentines allowed to leave the stadium in full. Three of the four players were then in the starting line-up for Argentina. But the health authorities did not give up. “We wanted to play, and so did the Brazilians,” said Argentina coach Scaloni. “That’s very sad.” In the meantime, the Brazilians were setting up cones on the lawn – and doing improvised training.