Seen in other times as a country of the right way, Brazil gained in the pandemic of the “little flu” the image of the country that has no way. In it, the President of the Republic criticizes sanitary precautions, rejects vaccines, despises masks and promotes mass gatherings. It was in this environment of disrepute that the delegation of Argentina found it natural to circumvent Brazilian rules of public health to put on the field in the match against Brazil three of four players who lied in the declaration made at customs and refrained from complying with mandatory quarantine.
The four Argentine athletes —Emiliano Martinez, Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso and Emiliano Buendía— omitted in their declaration of entry into the country, in the early hours of Friday, that they were in the United Kingdom for less than 14 days. They would have to do quarantine. Warned by Anvisa in a virtual meeting on Saturday afternoon, top hats from CBF and Conmebol, the South American confederation, said they were negotiating a special authorization with Brazilian authorities. Even without the safe-conduct, the players practiced on Saturday night.
On Sunday, the Argentine delegation gave a hat to the ANVISA inspectors who went to the hotel to notify the offenders and arrange for deportation. Escorted by the Federal Police, the agents went to the stadium of the Corinthians, where the match would take place. The Argentina team took refuge in the locker room, locking themselves.
Three of the four liars entered the field. An inspector from Anvisa was at the edge of the lawn with the ball rolling. Six minutes into the game, he entered the field losing with a rout. Zeroed the score when interrupting the pelejThe. He wanted to remove the offenders, not interrupt the game. But the Argentine team retreated.
The visiting team went straight from the stadium to the airport. Anvisa turned the game around by sending the four undocumented players to testify to the Federal Police before boarding, still on Sunday night, for Buenos Aires.
There are many unanswered questions, all of them disturbing. For example: Why weren’t the athletes barred by Anvisa and the Federal Police on arrival? What Brazilian authorities gave to the top hats of the soccer the impression that Argentine players would be released from complying with sanitary regulations?
The episode is vexing. It would be even more shameful if lying and omission converted Brazil into a kind of mother Juana’s house.
It will be up to FIFA to define the outcome of the trouble. If football were logical, Argentina would be punished for desertion, with the three points in favor of Brazil, who remained on the pitch. But in sports policy the field is not always marked, the ball is square and lies can count in favor.
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