The four footballers of the Argentine selected acting in England were at the center of a controversy in Brazil, whose health authorities suspect that, in the framework of the Covid-19 pandemic, they falsified their sworn statement to enter the country for today’s match for the qualifiers for the Qatar 2022 World Cup. The tension regarding the matter reached the limit that they doubted their presence in the game, although finally everyone got on the bus to the Arena Corinthians stadium. The game will start at 4:00 p.m., and Scaloni will have all the members of the squad.
The players on whom the National Health Surveillance Agency of Brazil (Anvisa) opened an investigation are Giovani lo celso, Christian romero (both from Tottenham Hotspur), Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendía (from Aston Villa). Those who enter Brazil and were within the last 14 days in the United Kingdom, South Africa, Ireland and India must fulfill a preventive isolation of two weeks. To the four Argentines they were accused of having misrepresented their statement.
From the AFA did not express concern because, they argued, the health bubble stipulated by Conmebol was met. The entanglement got bigger because the Brazilian Football Confederation He warned the South American Confederation of the obligation for players to quarantine. It replied that the countries agreed on the sanitary protocols and that the issue had to be resolved by the Brazilian government.
The team arrived in Brazil on a flight from Caracas, Venezuela, to San Pablo, and declared that they had not passed by none of the four countries with restrictions in the last 14 days, as specified by Anvisa in a statement. “On Friday, official news reached Anvisa reporting alleged false statements made by these travelers. False information provided to the Brazilian authorities may constitute sanitary infractions and violation of criminal laws, ”the agency emphasized.
From the suspicions, Anvisa notified the Government of São Paulo to send health agents to the Marriott hotel at the Guarulhos international airport, where the Argentine team is housed, in order to determine if “Esque” Martínez, Buendía, “Cuti” Romero and Lo Celso were included in the current regulations for people from from England. “After the notification from the federal body, the Ministry of Health initiated an epidemiological and sanitary investigation and will raise for Anvisa to deliberate on the need to quarantine the athletes,” said the government of São Paulo. The statement said that Anvisa “is responsible for surveillance at airports” and “allowed four athletes from the Argentine team who perform in the United Kingdom to pass.”
Finally, at noon on Sunday the situation was resolved in favor of the Argentine wish, despite the fact that the pressures from the health authority grew considerably after a new statement in which, without mentioning their own names, it was reported that “two of the four footballers had falsified their statement.” In the middle there was efforts by Conmebol itself and the Argentine ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Scioli.
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According to resolution 655 of June 23, 2021 of the Presidency of the Republic, travelers with “origin or passage through the United Kingdom, South Africa and India in the last 14 days, when entering Brazilian territory, must remain in quarantine for 14 days”.
The quarantine and a series of procedures against the pandemic that could affect their work were the reason why Eleven players from the Brazilian team were vetoed by their clubs from participating in the playoffs. Martínez, Buendía, Romero and Lo Celso were authorized by their clubs for two first matches (Venezuela and Brazil), but Scaloni has them for all three matches. Tottenham and Aston Villa demand that they travel after this Sunday because in England they will have to serve a quarantine; if they do so after Thursday they will miss more Premier League games.
Publicado en el diario La Nación
