Brazil vs Argentina World Cup qualifier ended in 5 minutes and will be replayed.
The World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina in September stopped just minutes after the start of play when health officials rushed onto the field to be replayed, the supreme body FIFA declared on Monday.
The game in the NeoQuimica Arena in Sao Paulo was suspended after five minutes after Brazilian health officials surrounded the arena to block the England-based players of Argentina from playing, claiming they had violated Brazil’s COVID-19 quarantine regulations.
The officials claimed that the Argentines violated the rules that stipulated those who had traveled to India, the UK, South Africa, or India in the past two weeks were not allowed to enter Brazil without being residents of the country or had permanent residence.
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Brazilian officials told that the players lulled border officials by claiming they were not in a country that was on the red list within the 14 days preceding the game.
Argentine officials claimed that they believed that the same protocol that was in place for the Copa America in Brazil in June of last year was in place for World Cup qualifiers to allow teams to travel across continents.
A representative of the South American Football Confederation confirmed the interpretation.
FIFA, however, stated that the two teams’ inability to conclude the match warranted sanctions.
“The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has found that the decision to cancel the game resulted from a variety of shortcomings of the players in the game,” FIFA said in its statement.
The game “should be replayed at the date and venue to be set by FIFA,” it said.
The disciplinary committee also barred the four England-based players of Argentina. The four England-based players – Emiliano Buendia, Emiliano Martinez Giovani Lo Celso, and Cristian Romero for two international games.
FIFA also punished both the Brazilian and Argentine soccer associations with 500,000 Swiss dollars ($540,000) and 200 Swiss Francs each for their inability to maintain “order and security.”
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) declared that it would contest the decision.
“The decision is not consistent with the facts,” the AFA said it asked FIFA to explain legal reasons for the decision so that it could appeal.
The Brazilian Football Confederation also criticized it and claimed it decided what actions to take.
Both teams have qualified without a loss for Qatar, and both have Brazil leading Brazil’s South American qualifying group, just four points better than Argentina. However, each team has three matches to play.
The final qualification round is scheduled for late March.
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