Four Argentina players deported from Brazil
Argentina’s entire squad left Sao Paulo on Sunday night after Brazilian public health agents and federal police officers invaded the pitch and had the game abandoned inside 10 minutes.
Tottenham pair Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero, as well as Aston Villa’s Emi Buendia and Emi Martinez have been accused of entering Brazil illegally.
Speaking with Radio Rivadavia, Alejandro Martínez , brother of goalkeeper Emi, said: ‘The only thing he knows is that he will not be able to travel from Brazil to Croatia, he is deported and has to go through Argentina.’
Argentinian outlet TyC Sports detailed that the quartet did travel with the rest of the squad back to Buenos Aires but the four of them had been classified as ‹deportees› in leaving Brazil by the state of Sao Paulo.
The Argentina FA had argued that the group had been in Brazilian territory since Friday, and as such were complying with all of the current protocols around Covid-19 and travel regulated by Conmebol, organisers of the qualifiers.
In response the Brazilian FA said: ‘We emphasise that we were absolutely surprised by the moment in which the action of the National Health Surveillance Agency took place, with the game already started since Anvisa could have exercised its activity in a much more effective way, at different times and days before the game.
‘The role of the CBF was always in an attempt to promote understanding between the entities involved so that the protocols could be fulfilled satisfactorily and the game could be played.
As reported exclusively by Sportsmail last week, Argentina are accused of falsified documents, failing to declare the four players had come from the UK and therefore risked deportation or at least quarantine, in line with Brazilian Covid protocol.
The Premier League had initially refused to release all players who were set to play international matches in red-listed countries, such as Brazil.
Brazilian law states that anyone who has been in the UK during the previous 14 days must quarantine in a hotel for a further 14 days, a move that would have seen the four players unable to leave until at least 18
September.