1 What happened on this unforgettable September 5, 2021?
When 5 minutes and 10 seconds of the first half of Brazil-Argentina by Qualifiers had been played, they entered suddenly, breaking in, four prosecutors from Anvisa (National Health Surveillance Agency) and policemen (apparently armed) to the playing field. They stopped the game and one, with a record in hand, wanted to explain that three players (Draw Martínez, Cuti Romero and Lo Celso) could not play and had to be deported along with Buendía, who did not go to the bank.
There was a commotion, Argentines and Brazilians participated and the Argentine team ended up leaving the field. Total fool, incredible, from Brazil on the grounds that the players could not enter the country and that they had omitted a key piece of information in their affidavit of entry to São Paulo last Friday. And that despite the fact that they told the players that they had to stay isolated in the hotel, they did not comply.
2 Who made the decision to leave the court?
The National Team was already determined in the previous one to do so if they did not let some teammates play and, when the issue arose on the court, they already had that position taken. Even Scaloni later explained that a Conmebol delegate suggested that they leave to prevent the incidents from escalating. So the team itself, also pushed by that delegate, decided to leave the court. From Luque came an immediate call for the Argentines, visitors, to go quickly to the changing rooms to prevent problems from increasing.
3 Why was this generated?
Since Saturday, Anvisa went to the National Team hotel because, according to them, there were four Argentine players who could not be in the country because they had left last week from England (the same would happen from India and South Africa). Beyond what was agreed in Conmebol, with soccer protocols that allowed playing during the pandemic and agreed between the ten federations, the state of São Paulo determined that the players should be deported. With Messi at the helm, there were Argentine claims before the irruption in the middle of the game.
4 Why were the players questioned able to enter the country?
It is the million dollar question. If the four involved (Martínez, Lo Celso, Romero, Buendía) were not authorized, why did they go through Migrations? Sand charged that the affidavit did not state that they had passed through England in the previous 14 days; a statement generally made not by the players but by delegates. Likewise, by protocol Conmebol should have been able to enter and be in Brazil without problems, as happened in the Copa América.
MORE QUESTIONS
5 Why then weren’t they deported earlier?
If on Saturday they already knew reliably from Anvisa that the players had come from England, and that they had been in São Paulo since Friday, the big question is why Anvisa did not make a drastic decision that same day. In fact, if they believed that it was risky due to possible Covid contagion, it does not make sense that they have been let out on the court, putting the rest of the players and rivals at risk. They let them go to practice, go to the stadium and even let them start playing the game …
The president of Anvisa, Barra Torres, explained that “they were ordered to remain isolated pending deportation. But it was not fulfilled. They move to the stadium, they enter the field, there is a sequence of breaches”. Eye: also, if the decision was made, they could have been prevented from leaving the hotel for the stadium.
6 What does Conmebol say?
From the beginning, he stood in favor of the Argentine players, warning the Brazilian Football Confederation that they could lose the points if the game was not played and if they did not let the four who come from the Premier play. Of course, after the suspension, he took an officially Solomonic position: announced that the match was suspended by the referee due to force majeure and that the decision on match points will be made by FIFA, which is the organizer of the Qualifiers. Beyond that it is clear that Conmebol He is the protagonist of Qualifiers, because his national teams play.
7 What did the Brazilian players do?
They did not like at all Anvisa’s decision to interrupt the match, abruptly. In fact, Neymar stayed talking to one of the prosecutors to insist that they should play and then claim them. And Tite also protested the interruption. Later, they stayed doing a practice in the stadium.
8 Big question: why had they called up Premier League players from Brazil?
Another of the illogical points, since Tite had summoned eight players who act in England for this game, who finally were not there to avoid problems with their clubs. Now, it is rare that they have summoned them, considering that the regulation for any common citizen requires quarantine when they arrived from England, what they were supposed to have done according to Anvisa. Of course, through the Conmebol sanitary cordon, you can arrive and play, which should have happened with the Argentines, as part of a bubble.
9 How does the Brazilian Football Confederation defend itself?
Warned by Conmebol that they could lose the points, he gave the ok for it to be played. But… Its president explained after the irruption that “the party delegate said that it could be played so that later they would be deported. But later, for a reason unknown to CBF, they changed. “ And then he tried to detach himself from any responsibility: “CBF respects the sanitary regulations. This is a Conmebol situation with Anvisa. We are very surprised to let it happen after the start of the game ”.
10 What can FIFA watch?
The field of action with respect to this type of situation is very wide. He can suspend the Confederation and give the points to Argentina, as well as make the game repeat.
11 Who is the main responsible?
The local federation, in this case the CBF, is the one with full responsibility for the organization of sporting events. In this case, it is the one that allowed Anvisa to enter zone 1, where not just anyone arrives, and they had to comply with protocols, such as PCR.
12 What the AFA and the National Team say
Those who spoke officially, until the squad left the stadium at 7.15pm, were Lionel Scaloni and Claudio Chiqui Tapia, who countered with regard to the accusation of having omitted the fact that the players had passed through England. The DT, on the other hand, He thought that here this goes beyond football …
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