THERE was drama in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday night as the Qatar 2022 World Cup qualifier between hosts Brazil and Argentina had to be called off.
The match was disrupted in the early minutes when Brazilian health officials stormed into the pitch to arrest four Argentina players for breaching Covid-19 rules.
The officials alleged that England-based Giovanni Los Celso, Emi Buendia, Emiliano Martinez and Cristian Romero all entered Brazil under false pretences and had not declared that they had been in the United Kingdom in the last 14 days.
Brazil’s Covid-19 prevention guidelines say aircraft passengers who have been in the UK, South Africa or India in the 14 days prior to arriving in Brazil must quarantine for 14 days, and the four players had flouted those rules.
The health officials’ action eventually led to the match being abandoned as the Argentines refused to continue without the four players.
The Argentina team walked off while the Brazil team stayed behind and had a kickabout for some time.
Football governing body FIFA released a short statement afterwards, confirming that the match had been suspended.
“FIFA can confirm that following a decision by the match officials, the FIFA World Cup 2022 qualifying match Brazil vs. Argentina has been suspended. Further details will follow in due course,” the statement said.
Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentina Football Association, said: “What happened today is a very bad image. Four people entered to interrupt the game and CONMEBOL asked the players to go back to the dressing room.
“You cannot talk about any lie here because there is health legislation under which all South American tournaments are played. The health authorities of each country approved a protocol that we have been fully complying with.”
In a qualifying match in Europe that was played without interruption, Italy set a new men’s international record for most consecutive matches without defeat (36 matches) when they played a 0-0 draw with Switzerland in Zurich.
Also on Sunday, 19-year-old Karim Adeyemi, born to a Nigerian father, scored on his senior Germany debut as they defeated Armenia 6-0.
The Red Bull Salzburg striker came on in the 75th minute to replace Serge Gnabry and scored Germany’s sixth goal in the 90th minute.
In other European qualifiers on Sunday night, Romelu Lukaku marked his 100th cap for Belgium with a goal and an assist as they defeated Czech Republic 3-0, Poland dismantled San Marino 7-1, while Spain and England beat Georgia and Andorra 4-0 each.
In the African qualifiers on Sunday, Rwanda and Kenya drew 1-1 in Kigali with Nigerian officials in charge, while Egypt defied a red card to score a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw away to Gabon.
