A wild scene broke out during today’s World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina in São Paulo, as Brazilian police and health officials made their way onto the pitch halt the contest.
The reason? Apparently, four Argentine players broke the country’s covid quarantine rules and lied to enter the country. Hours prior to the match, Brazil’s health regulator stated that Argentina’s Emiliano Buendia and Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa and Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero of Tottenham Hotspur had not properly quarantines since arriving from their English Premier League clubs.
In Brazil, any individual who has been in the U.K. in the past 14 days must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Brazil. The country’s health regulators were eventually tipped off that the four players had provided false information when screened upon entering the country.
Here’s the comment from Brazil’s health regulator, Anvisa, via ESPN:
“Anvisa considers the situation a serious health risk and so has asked local health authorities to determine the immediate quarantine of the players, who are stopped from participating in any activity and should be prevented from remaining on Brazilian soil.”
Here’s a look at the scene on the pitch:
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The Argentina players were eventually escorted to their dressing room while the coaches, Lionel Messi and the Brazilian players remained on the pitch to discuss the stoppage. No word yet on when the match will resume.
