The South American Classico was set to take place for the first time during the Qatar World Cup qualifiers campaign. The current no.1 and no. 2 team in the region’s qualifying standings were to battle it out on Sunday in Sao Paulo. Meanwhile, Brazil’s ANVISA health authority interrupted the match in the 10th minute.
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They demanded that four Argentine players who travelled from the United Kingdom should be deported for violating the country’s health regulations. Subsequently, the Argentine team left the field and made their way to the locker room.
The four players in question here are Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa); Emiliano Buendia (Aston Villa); Cristian Romero (Tottenham Hotspur) and Giovani Lo Celso (Tottenham Hotspur). Brazilian regulations suggest completing a 14-day quarantine after travelling from the United Kingdom. Consequently, ANVISA issued a statement on this topic in the days leading up to the match. However, Argentina decided to name three of those players in the starting lineup against Brazil for the Qatar World Cup qualifiers.
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Image – Bloomberg
The Argentine soccer federation’s official Twitter account was first to announce the suspension of the match. CONMEBOL, the governing body for the sport in South America was next to clear things up. However, the Brazilian federation’s statement didn’t hold back at ANVISA. There’s an argument that Brazilian health officials made their position clear and public and the Argentine side ignored it. Argentina’s head coach, meanwhile, claimed that they were never aware of it.
