Brazil vs Argentina was suspended on Sunday evening, five minutes into the nations' CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier in Sao Paulo, after Brazilian health officials stormed the pitch and accused Argentina's players of not following quarantine rules.
The away team left the Corinthians Arena after the health authorities claimed four players had breached quarantine laws. The quartet were not named but are believed to be those that arrived in South America from England: Emi Buendia and Emi Martinez of Aston Villa, and Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero of Tottenham Hotspur. Martinez, Lo Celso and Romero were all on the pitch at the time of the intervention.
Brazilian COVID-19 rules state that any visitor who has visited the UK in the fortnight prior to entering the country must quarantine for 14 days after arrival. Officials believed the players, who would not be able to participate in the match on these grounds, would be leaving the country following a period of isolation.
"They were directed to remain isolated while awaiting deportation, but they did not comply," Antonio Barra Torres, director at Brazil's health regulator Anvisa, told TV reporters later on Sunday night. "They went to the stadium and they entered the field, in a series of breaches."
The Argentine Football Association claims their men's national team had been in Brazil since September 3 and had complied with protocols.
"It makes me very sad," Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni told reporters after the incident. "If something happened or did not happen, it was not the time to make that intervention."
To add to the bizarre series of events, Brazil's players then organised an impromptu training session on the pitch around an hour after the fracas ended. No date has been set for a re-match, with Argentina taking the decision to leave Brazil ahead of their next World Cup qualifier at home to Bolivia on Friday.
A CONMEBOL statement clarified that a "the match organized by FIFA between Brazil and Argentina for the World Cup Qualifiers is suspended". FIFA will now gather evidence and look into a potential dates for a repeat fixture. However, with CONMEBOL coming under fire for its bloated and gruelling fixture list, it may be complicated to find a date that works for everybody.
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