September 07, (THEWILL) – The world football governing body, FIFA, confirmed via a statement on Tuesday that it has opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the abandonment of the World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina.
The match was only seven minutes old when Brazil’s health officials interrupted proceedings for what they claimed was a breach of quarantine regulations by four Argentine players from the English Premier League (EPL).
Although the authorities did not specifically say the players were from the EPL, all indications pointed to Aston Villa’s Emiliano Buendia and Emiliano Martinez, and Tottenham Hotspur’s Giovani lo Celso and Cristian Romero as the cases of interest.
According to Brazil’s COVID-19 quarantine protocols, anyone entering the country from the UK must quarantine for 14 days. Therefore, it was easy to surmise that players from the English league were the ones that broke quarantine rules.
The actions of the health officials were censured by most of those who have reacted, including Brazil coach Tite and Argentine captain Lionel Messi.
The match officials’ reports have been sent to FIFA and the body has confirmed the start of proceedings to get to the bottom of the issue. The statement from FIFA said:
“Following the analysis of the official match reports related to the World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina, FIFA can confirm that disciplinary proceedings have been opened involving both member associations.
“The two teams were asked to provide further information on the facts which led to the suspension of the match, which will be gathered and then thoroughly reviewed by FIFA’s disciplinary committee. Updates will follow in due course.”
FIFA added that it “regrets the scenes preceding the suspension of the match between Brazil and Argentina which prevented millions of fans from enjoying a match between two of the most important football nations in the world.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
