A World Cup qualifying match between Brazil and Argentina was stopped after only a couple of minutes after Brazilian authorities attempted to detain four Premier League players for failing to quarantine.
The high-profile match at the Neo Quimica Arena in Sao Paulo on Sunday evening, which featured Lionel Messi and Neymar among a star-studded cast, was interrupted by health officials and police spilling onto the dig in farcical scenes after an argument erupted on the sidelines, and therefore the game was eventually abandoned.
Aston Villa’s Emiliano Buendia and Emiliano Martinez and Tottenham’s Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso were the four Argentinian players accused of flouting travel restrictions to play within the match, and therefore the latter trio all started the sport. Earlier within the day, the Brazilian authorities had said the quartet would wish to quarantine, having traveled from England.
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Brazil’s health authority, Anvisa, said during a statement before the game: “Anvisa considers things a significant health risk then has asked local health authorities to work out the immediate quarantine of the players, who are stopped from participating in any activity and will be prevented from remaining on Brazilian soil.”
They then attempted to stop the sport from going ahead but Argentina refused to comply, locking themselves in their room before kick-off.
Visitors who are within the UK for the 14 days before entering Brazil must quarantine for 14 days on arrival unless they gain a special exemption.
Argentina left the stadium soon after the turmoil, while the Brazilian players returned to the pitch to place on a training session to entertain the fans who remained.
Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni said, “It makes me very sad. I’m not trying to find anyone responsible. Whether or not something happened, it had been not the time to form that intervention [during the game]. It should are a celebration for everybody to enjoy the simplest players within the world”.
“I would really like the people of Argentina to know that as a teacher I even have to defend my players. At no time were we notified that they might not play the match. We wanted to play the sport, as did the players from Brazil.”
The South American football Confederation Conmebol announced that the match had been suspended and therefore the referee and match delegate would now provide a report for Fifa’s disciplinary committee, which might decide what action to require.