Worldwide scandal at Brazil-Argentina match over COVID-19 requirements
Spain were entertained as Luis Enrique's side thrashed Georgia in Badajoz. The second half looked set to be dull and many were tapping on the remote to watch the second half matches. Others were already looking forward to Brazil v Argentina at the Neo Química Arena in Sao Paulo at an interesting time for Europe (21:00).
The match had already been controversial for days. Even since LaLiga, Serie A and the Premier League tried to get the courts to stop the call-ups. The trips left the teams in their competitions severely handicapped by the 11 days that had to be extended and, in addition, on their return they would have to do quarantine. But FIFA insisted on going ahead with the matches and travel for European players. The pandemic had already delayed these matches and in 18 months the World Cup in Qatar will start. Everything has to be settled by June 2022, when the draw for the finals groups will be held.
The match between Brazil and Argentina was stopped in the third minute because Brazilian health authorities entered the pitch to arrest and deport the four Argentine Premier players, Emiliano Buendia and Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa and Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero of Tottenham Hotspur. At that moment, a sporting earthquake began that ended in a monumental political and health altercation. The whole thing ended with Brazil playing a game between starters and substitutes on one half of the Corinthians pitch.
The tensions started several days earlier. At 9.17am on Friday morning, Argentina's flight landed in Sao Paulo from Caracas, where they had beaten Venezuela two days earlier. On that flight the players had to fill in a form asking them whether they had been to the UK, Northern Ireland, South Africa or India 14 days earlier. If so, they would have to be quarantined for 14 days. The four Premiership players falsified the answer and the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) followed them up thoroughly. As it was not a commercial flight full of anonymous passengers, the whole of Brazil knew the journey of the charter and the origin of its passengers. The footballers' lives are public and this has cost them robberies in their homes, for example.
The protocols and bubbles for this meeting were never clear. CONMEBOL and FIFA allowed the players to travel because they were leaving the bubbles of their clubs to go to the bubble of their national team. That way they avoided quarantine and could play the matches. But the Brazilian government did not want to make exceptions and was very clear in its actions after the suspension of the match. The Brazilian Ministry of Health announced that they had warned the four Argentine players not to leave the hotel to go to play, and that if they did they would have to be deported. And since all four went to the pitch and three of them started the game, they had to intervene.
The embarrassment that took place in Sao Paulo with one of the great South American classics was historic. In cross conversations between the players, Messi was heard to ask "Were they waiting for the game to start?". Flavio Bolsonaro, son of Brazil's president, wrote on Twitter that the Argentines knew they were breaking the law, called for the police to investigate the incident and for the Celeste team to be severely punished.
The situation did not get too out of hand on the pitch because the big stars of the two teams are good friends. Messi, Neymar and Dani Alves reassured their team-mates and chatted while the authorities did their job. The question on everyone's mind was why they waited until kick-off to call off the match. Although the Argentines had been warned, leaving the hotel and arriving at the stadium would have been grounds for arresting the four players who allegedly forged their entry documents. However, they waited to start and tarnish the image of world football.
Now it will be up to FIFA to make the final decision. Conmebol washed its hands of the matter and tweeted that the match was organised by a higher body and that they would not make decisions. The dates are running out and both Brazil and Argentina have to keep travelling. Brazil in Recife against Peru and Argentina in Buenos Aires against Bolivia, both matches on Friday 9 September.
This event leaves two important reflections. On the one hand, that the COVID protocols must be reviewed again and unified for the whole of world football. This season we are seeing stadiums at 40% in Spain, full stands in England, empty stadiums in South America... Quarantines in some destinations and PCR in others. On the other hand, national team matches during the season do not help football. They hinder the fans who are excited about their team; they leave the Spanish second division teams with international players very weakened and they put at risk the health of the players who can suffer serious injuries outside the club that pays them.
Brazil wanted to show that it cares about the global health crisis. One of the countries that has had the most deaths and one of the presidents who has been most unconcerned about the virus wanted to use football to wash its image. The Seleçao has paid the price for the political and sanitary lack of control they live in. Neither order nor progress.