On Sunday, confusing scenes erupted amid the World Cup qualifiers between Argentina and Brazil at Sao Paulo, as health officials from the Brazilian government rushed on to the ground and accused four Argentinian players from the English Premier League (EPL) of flouting Brazil's quarantine regulations. Foreign travellers who have passed through the United Kingdom, South Africa, Northern Ireland and India in the last 14 days are prevented from entering Brazil. The players in question were Tottenham's Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso, Aston Villa's Emiliano Martínez and Emiliano Buendia. Officials from Brazil’s health agency, Anvisa, announced the game suspended after less than 10 minutes of play. The players in question were recommended for deportation, according to reports.
Anvisa said in a statement: "Due to information that four Argentine players entered Brazil in breach of the country's sanitary rules, by allegedly declaring false information in an official form of the Brazilian sanitary authority, Anvisa met with representatives of the ministry of health. After a meeting with the health authorities, it was confirmed, after consulting the passports of the four players involved, that the athletes failed to comply with the rule for the entry of travelers on Brazilian soil. The players in question declared that they have not played in any of the four countries with restrictions in the last 14 days."
Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni said, reported Reuters: "It makes me so sad, I am not looking for guilty parties, whatever happened or did not happen, this wasn't the time to do it," he told Argentine broadcaster TyC Sports. "We wanted to enjoy a game between the best in the world and it ends up like this. As a coach, I am going to defend my players. If people come and say we want to take this guy or deport this guy there was no chance of that," he said.
