by Gabriel Coketrone
Last Friday, November 5, the match between Brazil and Argentina for the 2022 World Cup South American qualifiers was interrupted for six minutes in the first half after representatives of the monitoring agency Sanitaria (Envisa) entered the field. Take action against four Argentine players playing in the United Kingdom who disobeyed Brazil’s health regulations against Covid-19 when entering the country.
After the agents entered, the Argentine team left the field and headed to the Neo Quimica Arena locker room, where it stayed for hours before leaving the country.
Since then, FIFA, as the organizer of the qualifiers, has opened a process to investigate what happened and decide what will be the outcome of the match. However, after 60 days, football’s governing body did not specify a time frame for the presentation of the decision.
For Joo Paulo Di Carlo, lawyer specializing in sports law and columnist law in the area, this delay undermines the importance of the case.
“It is very difficult to analyze what is happening in the established procedure for resolving the impasse in sport between Brazil and Argentina, as it is confidential. Similarly, no time frame set by the Code for the decision of the FIFA Disciplinary Commission No. Case, A. It acts with discretion. However, what is observed is that this course of time should take the importance and importance of the decision, as Brazil and Argentina are adding points, themselves in contention More and more are guaranteeing the World Cup. Qatar, which in the end will make the content of the resolution irrelevant,” he says.
what might happen?
at the time when the matter happened law in the area Heard the experts to know who should be punished or held responsible for the situation. According to him, Argentina’s attitude is subject to penalties, such as fines for the WO and the national federation.
“In my view, a fine of WO (3 to 0) and 10,000 Swiss francs shall be applied to the Argentine Federation without prejudice to other disciplinary measures. This is provided for in Articles 14 and 20 of the FIFA Code of Discipline.” Joao Paulo di Carlo.
Gustavo Lopes, lawyer specializing in sports law and columnist for law in the area, WO and also believes in the “(remote) probability of ending in the cup”.
“Article 5 of the FIFA Rules speaks of force majeure (Argentina will charge this). If I do not accept this argument, the FIFA Code of Discipline provides for a fine of 10,000 Swiss Francs for W, O. But even if Provided the rules, I do not believe in the possibility of being out of the qualifiers”, evaluated Jean Nicolau, a lawyer specializing in sports law and author of the book ‘Private International Law of Sport’.
“Everything will depend on the agreement between the federations. If the game does not take place, one of the teams will have to be punished with a WO. In this case, it is important to emphasize that the sporting norm will prevail over the national norm, to the definition of wholly and exclusively responsible for the non-fulfillment of the match,” said Vinicius Laurero, a lawyer specializing in sports law.
understand the matter
Four Argentine players working in the United Kingdom lied to the Brazilian authorities when they entered Brazil to play in the match. Goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez, defender Cristian Romero and midfielder Lou Celso, from Tottenham, and Buendia, from Aston Villa, were ordered to be deported by Anvisa for giving false information upon arrival in the country.
He said that he must not have been in the UK in the last 14 days, which is not true. Sanitary protocols adopted by the Brazilian government do not allow the entry of travelers arriving from a European country due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hours before the match, scheduled for 16:00 (GMT), Anvisa ordered the federal police to act in exile of four Argentine players. However, he did not follow through on his determination to stay at the hotel where the Argentine delegation is staying and went to the stadium with the rest of the team.
Contacted by ‘Globo’ during the broadcast of the match, Antonio Barra Torres, Director-President of Anvisa, explained the situation:
“There are four players. When they reach the national territory, they present a declaration of health of the traveler. In this document, it is not said that they have passed through one of the three banned countries, precisely to prevent the epidemic. But later it was found that they were passed through the United Kingdom. This was verified between last night and today. We got to this point because from the first moment whatever Anvisa directed , that was not completed. They were instructed to remain in isolation to wait for relegation. But it was not completed. They go to the stadium, enter the field, there is a sequence of non-compliance, The representative of Brazil’s health agency said.
A few hours after the stoppage, CONMEBOL officially announced the suspension of the match.
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