Health officials halt qualifier between Brazil and Argentina

SAO PAULO — A World Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina was suspended amid chaotic scenes after local health officials walked onto the pitch in a bid to remove three players who did not comply with coronavirus restrictions.

Sunday’s match, featuring Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Neymar, was stopped in the seventh minute because of the extraordinary interruption. The referee eventually suspended the game with the score at 0-0 after players, coaches, football officials and local authorities argued for several minutes on the field at NeoQuimica Arena.

Brazil’s health agency said three of Argentina’s Englishbased players should have been in quarantine instead of playing in the match. FIFA will have to determine what happens next.

Antonio Barra Torres, the president of Brazil’s health agency, Anvisa, said four Argentina players would be fined and deported for breaching Brazil’s COVID-19 protocols.

The four had been ordered to quarantine by Brazil’s health agency ahead of the match. Despite that order, three of the four started for Argentina.

Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia, and Tottenham’s Giovanni Lo Celso and Cristian Romero joined the Argentina squad despite the Premier League not wanting players to be released for international duty because of the need to quarantine for 10 days in a hotel on their return. Brazil’s quarantine restrictions have added another complicating factor.