Surprise .. The International Federation orders the replay of the Brazil-Argentina match
Today, Monday, the International Football Association (FIFA) ordered the Brazil and Argentina teams to replay their 2022 World Cup qualifiers, which were halted in Sao Paulo last September, minutes after its start, due to violations of protocols related to the Corona virus in the visiting team.
Only seven minutes after the start of the match, representatives from the Brazilian health authorities stormed the stadium, which led to a major controversy, after which the Argentine players entered the dressing room and did not return to the field, which led to the match being stopped permanently.
"After a thorough investigation of the various facts, and in light of the applicable regulations, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee decided that the match should be replayed at a time and place to be determined by FIFA," a statement from the international body said on Monday.
The Seleção and Tango teams have already booked their tickets to Qatar at the end of this year, and they will surely finish the South American group in the first two places, knowing that the first four teams qualify directly for the finals.
Neither of them has lost a match, as Brazil leads the standings, while Lionel Messi and his companions are in second place, and each side has three games remaining, including the replay between them.
And the health authorities said at the time that four Argentine professional players in the English Premier League at the time should enter “quarantine immediately” for violating the protocols of the Corona pandemic.
And the authorities indicated that Christian Romero and his former teammate in Tottenham Giovanni Lo Celso (currently Villarreal), Aston Villa goalkeeper Emiliano Martinis and his club colleague Emiliano Buendia, had provided "false information" in their entry form to Brazil, and did not declare their stay in the United Kingdom during the fourteen days prior to their arrival.
"The suspension of the match was due to the failure of the concerned parties towards their responsibilities," FIFA said in its statement on Monday.
In its statement, FIFA announced the suspension of the four Argentine players for two matches for “non-compliance” with the laws of the International Federation related to international matches after the pandemic, and imposed fines on the two national federations amounting to approximately 590 thousand US dollars for the Brazilian and 270 thousand dollars for the Argentine.
Follow our latest local and sports news and the latest political and economic developments via Google news