After Brazilian health officials opposed the participation of three Argentine athletes who they claim violated quarantine rules, a World Cup qualifier between Brazil & Argentina was suspended.
Officials entered the pitch just minutes after kickoff at the Corinthians Arena in Sao Paulo to stop the game. This prompted players from Argentina to leave the pitch.
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CONMEBOL released a statement saying that "The referee, the match official, will submit a report to FIFA Disciplinary Committee. They will decide what actions to take."
Players went to the dressing rooms, but the coaches and Lionel Messi, the Argentina captain, and the Brazilian players gathered at the pitch's side a few seconds later to discuss the stoppage.
"Why did they stop the game after only five minutes?" In comments made on television, Messi stated these words. "We've been at the stadium for an hr, they could have told me."
Messi returned to the dressing-room, where the match was officially suspended at 5:05 p.m., an hour after it began.
This incident happened just hours after Anvisa, Brazil's health regulator said that four Argentine players would need to be isolated and couldn't play in the match. The Premier League in England features four Argentine players: Emiliano Buendia, Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa and Giovani lo Celso and Cristian Romero of Tottenham Hotspur.
Brazilian regulations require that visitors who arrived in the U.K. within the last 14 days must be quarantined for 14 days.
Brazil's health regulator noticed that the four didn't state this information on their immigration forms. They confirmed that they were correct on Sunday.
After health officials intervened, Brazil's match against Argentina was stopped. Alexandre Schneider/Getty Images
Anvisa stated in a statement that the situation was a grave health risk. She asked the local authorities to quarantine the players.
Nevertheless, the Argentine team did not take any action and the four players were allowed travel from the hotel to their stadium. Martinez, Lo Celso, and Romero made up the starting line-up.
This confusion is a result of South American anger at rules that prevent several teams from using key players in this month's three World Cup qualifiers.
Brazil is without nine key players for the Argentina match, while other South American teams have lost players as a result of European clubs refusing to allow their players to travel to South America.
They would need to be quarantined upon their return. The clubs don't want to lose their players in the next league game.
Aston Villa stated that Martinez and Buendia had made arrangements to return to the club following the Brazil match and will be absent from Argentina's game against Bolivia. Martinez and Romero also participated in Thursday's 3-1 victory over Venezuela.
Brazil is currently leading the South American qualifying group to Qatar 2022, six more points than second-place Argentina. The top four qualified automatically for Qatar.
