Football governing body Fifa says disciplinary actions have been launched against Brazil and Argentina after the events that happened in their World Cup qualifiers. The incident that happened saw their World Cup qualifier abandoned.
The game was stopped after a Brazilian health official objected to the participation of three Argentine players they say broke quarantine rules. Fifa said their move follows an analysis of the match reports from Sao Paulo. They plan to replay the match, but no date has been fixed for the re-match of the game.
Brazil’s health authorities had said four EPL-based players for Argentina had to quarantine upon arrival due to Covid-19 measures. No players were named, but the players at English Premier League clubs are Emiliano Buendia and Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa, and Tottenham duo Giovani lo Celso and Cristian Romero.
The match was ended just five minutes into the game when Anvisa, the Brazilian sanitary authority, walked onto the pitch and called for play to be stopped. Brazil current rules on Covid-19 says anyone that has been in the UK in the 14 days before arriving in the country must quarantine for 14 days immediately upon arrival.
Anvisa director Antonio Barra Torres said the Argentina players did not comply with these rules despite being directed. Barra said: “We got to this point because everything that Anvisa directed was not fulfilled from the first moment.”
He also said: “They went to the stadium and entered the field in a series of breaches.” The Argentine Football Association, however, said the team had complied with all health protocols. Aston Villa chief executive Christian Purslow said the match’s events will now make clubs reluctant to release their players during international breaks.
He said: “It is a mess. What happened in Brazil on Sunday was one of the most extraordinary things I’ve seen watching football in all my life.” The Argentina squad has now left Brazil to prepare for their upcoming World Cup qualifier at home to Bolivia on Friday, 10 September