"Let's play for fun, make trouble for trouble, don't joke about epidemic prevention and control." At present, the world's epidemic prevention and control is still in a critical period, and we cannot relax at all. Thousands of miles away in Brazil, the current epidemic situation is not optimistic. However, in the early morning of the 6th, Beijing time, the World Cup preliminaries between Brazil and Argentina shocked everyone because Brazilian epidemic prevention personnel entered the venue to persuade the Argentine players to leave, and the game was eventually terminated. You can say this is a farce, or you can understand it as the Brazilian authorities attach great importance to epidemic prevention, but for the Chinese fans who set their alarm clocks and waited for this game, it was a "lonely" experience.
There is no need to elaborate on the grievances between Brazil and Argentina in the field of football. The tense duels between the two sides have been staged many times, but this time the confrontation is even more interesting. The main reason is that Brazil hopes to use its home power to complete its "revenge" against its old rivals. After all, in the America's Cup finals at home in July, they were determined to win and eventually fell at the feet of Messi. Of course, the Brazilians couldn't swallow this tone. Although many players in the team are very good friends with Messi, these are insignificant in the face of national interests.
But in many cases, "backfires" are more likely to occur than "getting what you want". But this time the Brazilians failed to "revenge" not because they did not win the game, but because the game lasted less than 10 minutes and was stopped in the middle. Just 6 minutes into the game, staff from the Brazilian health department first communicated with the players on the Argentine bench on the sidelines and then entered the field to ask the four members of the team, Martinez, Romero, Buendia and Lo Celso, to leave the game because they violated epidemic prevention regulations. According to Brazil's current epidemic prevention regulations, any non-Brazilian coming from the UK needs to be quarantined for 14 days, but these four Argentina internationals have not been quarantined.
The Argentines, who had never encountered such a situation, were obviously a little confused. They communicated and communicated with officials from the Brazilian health department in the venue, but it obviously had no effect. In the end, all members of the Argentine team decided to leave the venue. Due to the persistence of the epidemic prevention personnel, the game did not resume after the interruption. The battle between Pakistan and Afghanistan "ended" in such a strange way. Of course, the topics and controversies caused by it have only just begun.
According to Brazilian media reports, according to the regulations of the country's health agency, tourists who have stayed in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and India within 14 days before entering Brazil must quarantine for 14 days after arriving in Brazil. Sao Paulo health officials once said that they would go to the Marriott Hotel where the Argentine team was staying before the game to verify whether the other party followed the correct procedures, but in the end they failed to implement them. After the game was interrupted, Brazil's National Health Supervision Agency issued a statement on the matter. The statement read: "Four Argentine players were suspected of entering Brazil in violation of health regulations and making false statements. The agency communicated the matter to the federal police so that measures within the scope of the police force could be taken immediately. The National Health Supervision Agency believes that this situation poses a serious health risk and advises local health officials The department immediately quarantined the players, prohibited them from participating in any activities, and prohibited them from staying in Brazil according to corresponding regulations. "
The agency's CEO Antonio Barra Torres further explained: "The health declaration for the four players' entry did not mention that they passed through any of the countries in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and India, and the epidemic prevention rules were not enforced from the beginning. OK, they were asked to quarantine and await deportation, and that wasn't enforced, and they went to the stadium and entered the venue, and there was a litany of irregularities. 4 people should be deported from Brazil and fined. "
And Brazilian President Bolsonaro's son Flavio also criticized the Argentine players on social networking sites: "They have become rogues, and they know that they have violated Brazilian law. They blocked the Brazilian health authorities from enforcing the rules and actually had four players come over from the UK. Brazil must investigate who did not accept epidemic prevention measures before the game, and Argentina must be severely punished. "
Of course, this is just the explanation given by the Brazilians. The Argentinians are still very angry. The country's famous sports reporter Veronica Brunati also interpreted the matter.According to her explanation, players have immunity. This is an agreement reached between CONMEBOL and national football associations, and all football associations in South America have signed. Brazil has previously hosted the Copa America, and every player and delegation member participating in the World Cup preliminaries is eligible for this agreement. Brunati pointed out that all members of Argentina flew to Brazil from the Venezuelan city of Caracas, where they had competed in the last round of World Cup qualifying. Brazil does not allow foreign visitors from the UK, but players are exempt because they have been vaccinated and are within the current regulations of FIFA and CONMEBOL.
In addition, in accordance with the health protocols signed by all CONMEBOL member associations (and recognized by FIFA), football players, regardless of their country of origin, must stay in quarantine for 72 hours and be tested before the game. In other words, if you are quarantined for 72 hours and the test is OK, you can compete.
As a member of the field, Argentina captain Messi also wanted to work with coach Scaloni after the incident to persuade the epidemic prevention personnel and Brazilian staff to resume the game as soon as possible, but in the end their efforts came to nothing. Messi said unhappily: "This is a complete disaster. We have been in Brazil for three days, and they could have let our players leave long ago."
At present, the fact that the game is interrupted cannot be changed, so how will CONMEBOL and FIFA handle this incident next? According to Argentinian media tyc, the final outcome depends on the referee's report, and the result may be a penalty for Brazil or a rematch at a later date. Argentinian journalist Veronica Brunati also said that Argentina will be recognized as the winner of this game with a high probability.
Because of the epidemic prevention and control, a match of this level between Pakistan and Afghanistan was cut in half. What can people say?
Text/Beijing Youth Daily reporter Zhang Kunlong
editor/Zhou Xueshuai
