SecondOgota. Suddenly, employees of the health department stood aside. ANVISA officials gesticulated frantically, demanding the suspension of the World Cup qualifiers between Brazil and Argentina in Sao Paulo. Your allegation: Four Argentine national team players violated quarantine regulations.
Specifically, it’s about professionals from the UK Super League Emiliano Buendia, Emiliano Martinez (all Aston Villa) and Christian Romero and Giovanni Loscelso (all Tottenham Tottenham). According to Brazilian entry regulations, they must be quarantined for 14 days because they entered the country from the virus mutation area.
In fact, the situation may be more complicated, because there are several people responsible for giving up the game. The first is the South American Football Association Conmebol, which allows national players to travel across at least two continents and then across different countries during the pandemic.
The scandal is not unexpected
Then there is the collapse of the Argentine Football Association. This is obviously a guessing fact of the Brazilians, because the Premier League refused to let them go to the three World Cups. The Brazilians themselves had to have no more than six national players in the qualifiers. This would only accept the Argentines. Compete with a complete team.
Of course, the host Brazil was also involved in the scandal, because the health authorities could have intercepted and quarantined players with problems before kick-off. But this scene should be obvious. Antonio Barra Torres of ANVISA told the Brazilian media that the Argentine delegation had not followed the agency’s instructions from the beginning. In Brazil’s official language, this means: “Notorious violation of Interministerial Regulation No. 655/2021 and Brazilian immigration control rules”.
Lionel Messi Very surprised, it is said that I don’t know anything. “Have you waited until the game started? Why didn’t you warn us in advance or at the hotel? You can explain it and it will be resolved,” Messi said after the game was abandoned. It is said that he threatened that either everyone would play or not. This will ignore the order of the health authority, but this is not the first time Messi has interpreted the regulations based on his own reading.
Given the bad example set by the government, it is not surprising that Brazil and Argentina caused this scandal. The Argentine president was notable for organizing private parties during the blockade, while his Brazilian President Bolsonaro mocked the mask or distance.
Now discuss how to deal with abandoned games. Given the overcrowded calendar, it is difficult to imagine repeating or continuing. Conversely, if it is confirmed that the opponent ignores the entry rules, Brazil can score three points without a fight. This is a bit embarrassing for the Argentine Association. He denies all allegations.
The president of the association, Claudio Tapia, told the Argentine media: “The health authorities have approved the agreement that we fully comply with.” The national team coach Lionel Scaroni was also disappointed: “We want to play in Brazil. The players too. It should be a festival where everyone can enjoy the best players in the world.”