In a shocking development, the mammoth World Cup qualifier between Argentina and Brazil has been stopped by the home nation’s authorities due to a reported infringement of Covid-19 protocol.
Roger Bennett of NBC has reported that the Brazilian Federal Police walked onto the pitch, thereby stopping the match, due to an issue regarding the four Premier League players for Argentina.
It’s claimed that Spurs pair Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso, as well as Aston Villa duo Emil Martinez and Emi Buendia, failed to disclose that they are based in the UK upon arriving in Brazil.
Romero, Lo Celso and Martinez all started the tie, whilst Buendia is not in the matchday squad.
Per one of the latest updates from Roy Nemer, the Argentina players left the pitch, with Lionel Messi now returning to speak to Brazil boss Tite, pal Neymar and a few other Samba stars.
Pictures from Premier Sports and beIN Sports.
Trouble has surrounded the Premier League players who represent South American countries from before the international break even started.
It’s clearly been an uphill battle to get English top-flight players away for duty in the first place, due to all of South America being on the UK government’s red list, but this is something else entirely…
Any possible breach of Brazil’s Covid-19 protocol would be a serious offence as it’s been reported that the authorities are looking to detain and potentially even deport the players in question.
The situation is developing and hopefully the relevant authorities share official word on the apparent issues as soon as possible, which have now ruined South America’s most illustrious qualifier.