Chaos over Brazil quarantine breach

They were pitch intruders with a good reason, they claimed, to be confronting players only seven minutes into Brazil's World Cup qualifier with Argentina.

As Argentina great Lionel Messi and Brazil star Neymar watched on, the qualifier was halted on Sunday and chaos ensued.

Some players were accused by agents of Brazil's health agency, Anvisa, of breaching coronavirus restriction rules by not declaring on arrival in Brazil that they'd been in England within the previous 14 days.

But why did it take Anvisa until Sunday to directly intervene, given how high profile the players are and how seemingly widely known their movements were?

There was considerable focus on the trips from England even before Aston Villa players Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia, and Tottenham duo Giovanni Lo Celso and Cristian Romero flew to South America.

The initial spotlight was on Britain's requirements for anyone returning from South America to enter mandatory hotel quarantine for 10 days. Premier League clubs collectively agreed that no one would travel to CONMEBOL's games, defying an order from FIFA that both regulates world football - giving it powers to enforce players are released for their countries - and organizes the World Cups that fund the sport's governing body.

FIFA President Gianni Infantino's plea for the players to be exempt from quarantine after travelling to countries on the so-called "red list" was rejected by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.