09/05/2021 17:29
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 09/05/2021 17:38
The most important classic on the continent, Brazil - Argentina for the South American Qualifiers this Sunday,
was involved in a scandal of global dimensions after local health security agents entered the stadium in the middle of the game
to stop it due to the alleged impossibility for it to the players of the team that Lionel Scaloni directs were there.
What happened?
How was the road to this embarrassment?
Here,
five keys
to understanding the historical role.
1) The provenance
Argentina arrived in Brazil
last Friday
, after beating Venezuela in Caracas, to play against Brazil for the eighth date of the Qatar 2022 World Cup Qualifiers. The expectation was great: it was the first match after the final of the Copa América that consecrated Lionel Messi and the National Team for the first time in 28 years.
Four of the footballers of the Albiceleste squad are active in English football. Emiliano Martínez, Emiliano Buendía, Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso play for different teams in the Premier League, a league that did everything possible to prevent the participation of players who played that club tournament in their respective qualifying rounds under the pretext that they were visiting countries included in a list called "red zone" and that, in theory, are
more dangerous
due to the global situation of covid.
That implies that, if they visit those territories included in the list, people must do a strict quarantine of 14 days of isolation, which in reality
went against the interests of those clubs
by not being able to count on their players for several games once these will return.
Tite
himself
, coach of Brazil, for instance, ended up dropping nine Verdeamaerelos players participating in the English tournament.
But this no longer has to do with the Premier, but with a specific provision of the neighboring country, which
also makes objections to those travelers who recently passed through Great Britain
.
Indeed, in order not to spread the coronavirus variants that hit those countries, the 14-day isolation
is an official provision
.
The same is true for arrivals from South Africa and India.
2) ANVISA
This Brazilian government entity that gained notoriety from the scandal is the
National Health Surveillance Agency
.
From said entity it was reported that “the players in question (Martínez, Romero, Lo Celso and Buendía) who arrived in Brazil on a flight from Caracas to Guarulhos
declared that they had not passed through any of the countries with restrictions
in the last 14 days ”.
"On Friday, unofficial news reached ANVISA
reporting alleged false statements
made by these travelers."
And the text emphasized: "False information provided to the Brazilian authorities
may constitute sanitary infractions and violation of criminal laws
."
For this reason, in addition, the Brazilian Ministry of Health initiated an epidemiological investigation.
Immediately, concern took over the Argentine delegation.
Now,
why then did it end up playing?
It happens that already near the night of Saturday the tranquility arrived.
3) The intervention of Conmebol and the ok to play
“Our tournaments are played under a health bubble
that exempts delegations for 72 hours from quarantining.
The South American Qualifiers are played with the same model.
We notify the Brazilian authorities
and the CBF (Brazilian Football Confederation) that they are the hosts
and have to guarantee that the game is played
, ”
Gonzalo Belloso
, Development Director of the entity that governs South American football
, explained to Clarín at the time
.
Until then, everything seemed to be ready for the classic between Argentina and Brazil at Corinthians' Neo Química Arena stadium.
4) The "false statement"
This is where the waters get muddy.
Because with everything in theory solved, this Sunday the Brazilian health authorities return to the subject of the false declaration.
Argentina then threatened not to appear, but they assured him that there would be no problem.
Did Conmebol give a go-ahead on its own that the Brazilian government had not actually given it?
Were the local officials who on Saturday afternoon - night accepted what was reported by the entity to ignore the "agreement" the next?
Chicken or egg style.
5) Income and insanity
Barely five minutes had passed since the referee Jesús Valenzuela gave the initial whistle and, suddenly, the confusion on the pitch: members of ANVISA entered the field in order to communicate that the four footballers "of the scandal" could not be part of the same.
The reason?
Antonio Barra Torres, president of Anvisa, told TV Globo that "the 4 players
must be deported from Brazil
. They will be fined and sanctioned for the sequence of health violations. They do not comply with Brazilian health regulations."
The referee then decides to
suspend the match.
Once this was resolved, Argentina withdrew due to the certainty that they received from Conmebol that the game would not continue.
And so the disaster was unleashed.
Chronicle of a piece of paper announced?
Look also
Papelón in São Paulo: what could happen after the suspension of the match between Argentina and Brazil
The explanation that Conmebol gave about the suspension of the match between Brazil and Argentina
