When a Brazilian Quarantine Gave the Game a Sudden Pause
Picture this: a roaring crowd in São Paulo at the Corinthians Arena is just getting into the groove of the Brazil‑Argentina World Cup qualifier when, out of left field, officials from Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa storm onto the pitch—five minutes after kickoff!
Three Argentine squad members had allegedly flouted COVID‑19 quarantine rules, and the sudden police‑style intrusion left the Argentine players stunned, the coaches stunned even more, and Lionel Messi in disbelief.
Messi’s Surprise Bow
“Why did they start the game and stop it after five minutes?” Messi asked in a snap‑off interview, hinting that the squad had been in the stadium for an hour and should have been warned.
He quickly shuffled back to the locker room, while the match—scheduled to run for 90 minutes—was officially scratched at 5 pm local time.
What’s Next?
- The referee exchanged the whistle for paperwork, forwarding the incident to FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee.
- Conmebol said the committee would decide how to move forward.
Quarantine Rules Met the 14‑Day Challenge
Under Brazilian law, anyone who’s been in the UK in the prior two weeks must quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. Anvisa had flagged that four Argentine players didn’t disclose this, calling the details “false.”
Despite the warning, the trio—Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso, and Emiliano Martinez—were allowed to board the flight to São Paulo, skip the mandatory 14‑day isolation, and head straight to the match venue.
Club Gatekeeping & “Hospital‑Size” Hamstring Issues
These were not regular club players; they were Premier League stars, loaned to Tottenham and Aston Villa. Their clubs apparently wanted to keep their key players at home, worrying about missing crucial league matches after a 14‑day quarantine spell.
Aston Villa confirmed that both Emiliano Martinez and his more famous cousin, Emiliano Buendía, would return to the club post‑match—effectively missing Argentina’s next tie against Bolivia. The Argentine Football Association, meanwhile, insisted the duo would feature in all forthcoming games.
South American Football in a Pandemic‑Induced Stir
Such drama isn’t isolated. Several South American teams are left empty-handed, losing elite talent because European clubs won’t let them travel—fearing the fallout of missing league fixtures.
Brazil currently sits at the top of the South American qualifying ladder for the Qatar 2022 World Cup, six points ahead of Argentina, with the top four spots in automatic lock‑step.
Bottom line: A Game Stopped, a Game Re‑examined
Once the whole world is looking for a quick solution—and it’ll almost certainly involve rewriting a few rules—this incident serves as a hard‑clock lesson: keep your paperwork in order, or you’ll face a match‑suspension that’ll be talked about for weeks.
