" Match abandoned so authorities can deport players "

HEALTH AUTHORITIES STORM THE PITCH IN BRAZIL'S MATCH AGAINST ARGENTINA TO DEPORT FOUR ARGENTINA PLAYERS

THE FOUR PLAYERS INVOLVED ARE CHRISTIAN ROMERO & GIOVANI LO CELSO OF SPURS AND EMI MARTINEZ & EMI BUENDIA OF ASTON VILLA


THE MATCH HAS BEEN ABANDONED

CONMEBOL, their version of UEFA, have said this:

By decision of the match referee, the match organised by FIFA between Brazil and Argentina for the World Cup qualifiers is suspended.

The match referee and the match commissioner will submit a report to the FIFA disciplinary committee, which will determine the steps to be followed. These procedures strictly adhere to current regulations.

The World Cup qualifiers is a FIFA competition. All decisions concerning it's organisation and development are the exclusive power of that institution.







What has happened is below, via Sky Sports with the latest updates at the top:

(All times are UK time)

9.21pm: Comments from Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni: "It makes me very sad. I’m not looking for any culprits. Whether or not something happened, it was not the time to make that intervention. It should have been a party for everyone, to enjoy the best players in the world. I would like the people of Argentina to understand that as a coach I have to defend my players. At no time were we notified that they could not play the match. We wanted to play the game, the players from Brazil too.”

9.19pm: Comments from Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentina Football Association: “What happened today is a very bad image. Four people entered to interrupt the game and CONMEBOL asked the players to go back to the dressing room. You cannot talk about any lie here because there is health legislation under which all South American tournaments are played. The health authorities of each country approved a protocol that we have been fully complying with.”

9.18pm: Here is the confirmation: Brazil vs Argentina has been abandoned due to a failure to adhere to public health regulations by Argentina's four Premier League-based players.

9pm: Premier Sports, the broadcaster airing the pictures, are reporting that Argentina are preparing to leave the stadium. And Brazil are going to put on a public training session. So, we're looking at an abandoned game here. Just waiting for official confirmation.

8.57pm: The Brazilian team are involved in a team huddle pitch-side and look to have received some clarification of what is going on. There is lots of smiles. There are no Argentina players out on the pitch still. Are Brazil about to put on a training camp on the pitch? All the subs have stripped off into their kit.

8.48pm: Sky Sports News reporter Paul Gilmour reports: "We can confirm the game has been suspended (confirmed by both associations). Local reports suggest Brazilian health authorities want to deport the Premier League players (Lo Celso, Romero, Martinez and Buendia). Brazil entry requirements state anyone who has been in the UK in last 14 days must quarantine."

8.45pm: The TV pictures are now showing the Argentina players being ushered back to the dressing room. A few of them had taken their socks and shin-pads off.

8.43pm: Premier Sports - the broadcaster airing these pictures - are now reporting that a coach is on the way to the stadium to pick up the Argentina squad. We could be here a while if that is the case as the traffic in Sao Paulo is notoriously like a car park! If that is the case, then surely this match is going to get called off. However, the Brazil players remain on the pitch.

8.41pm: We can now see shots of Messi and Otamendi in the tunnel sharing more jokes with Dani Alves. It seems as though the four Argentina players in question are still in the dressing room - or have they been taken into isolation by the authorities? If they have - and it's pure speculation again - then surely this match is going to be abandoned.

8.37pm: According to broadcasters Premier Sports, it's been confirmed the game has been halted due to a "failure to adhere to public health regulations, which involves four Argentina players."

8.32pm: Remember, this isn't The Dog and Duck vs The White Horse. It's Brazil vs Argentina, for goodness sake.

8.30pm: Messi is now heading back down the tunnel - he's shares a joke with Dani Alves. He remains quite jovial. Meanwhile, the Brazil players are still out on the pitch. Extraordinary.

8.25pm: Now Lionel Messi has emerged from the tunnel, in a training bib rather than his match shirt. He embraces a few of the Brazil players before engaging with an official by the touchline. They are in deep discussion. Casemiro and Neymar also part of the discussions.

8.23pm: There were reports of the game being potentially called off due to the situation with the four Argentina players - but how and why has it taken this long for the authorities to make a decision?

8.18pm: So, going from the TV pictures, the Brazil team are still out on the pitch. Meanwhile, Argentina have made their way back into the dressing room. They may have been ordered off the pitch by the Brazil's health regulator Anvisa, who look to have come to ask the four Argentina players from the Premier League to isolate or even deport them! Pure speculation at this stage, of course. This is a first.

8.14pm: ARGENTINA PLAYERS ARE NOW WALKING OFF THE PITCH! This game might be over. Utter shambles.

8.13pm: This is bizarre. There is still a break in play. This is pure speculation on my part but are these officials on the touchline here to deport the four Argentina players? Remember, Brazil's health regulator Anvisa has sought the immediate isolation of four Argentina players.

8.10pm: Break in play here as there is a little bit of commotion on the touchline. It's unclear who it's involving as none of the staff from both benches are in club/country tracksuits. It seems to be involving the off-field officials.




The context:


A bit of context here. Brazil's health regulator Anvisa had sought the immediate isolation of four Argentina players just hours before the game.

Anvisa said the players should have quarantined on arrival because they had spent time in the UK over the previous 14 days.

Although it did not name the four, the players with Premier League clubs are Emiliano Buendia and Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa and Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero of Tottenham Hotspur.

CONMEBOL, their version of UEFA, have said this:

By decision of the match referee, the match organised by FIFA between Brazil and Argentina for the World Cup qualifiers is suspended.

The match referee and the match commissioner will submit a report to the FIFA disciplinary committee, which will determine the steps to be followed. These procedures strictly adhere to current regulations.

The World Cup qualifiers is a FIFA competition. All decision concerning it's organisation and development are the exclusive power of that institution.

Sounds sensational to go to the stadium but surely the Argentine staff would/should have known before they picked their travelling squad?

As for the Brazilians, they would not have been able to do anything until the players concerned were actually in the country, although it does beggar the question of how they were allowed through customs?

Comments from Claudio Tapia, president of the Argentina Football Association:

“What happened today is a very bad image. Four people entered to interrupt the game and CONMEBOL asked the players to go back to the dressing room. You cannot talk about any lie here because there is health legislation under which all South American tournaments are played. The health authorities of each country approved a protocol that we have been fully complying with.”

Comments from Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni:

"It makes me very sad. I’m not looking for any culprits. Whether or not something happened, it was not the time to make that intervention. It should have been a party for everyone, to enjoy the best players in the world. I would like the people of Argentina to understand that as a coach I have to defend my players. At no time were we notified that they could not play the match. We wanted to play the game, the players from Brazil too.”

Thanks, Ned. If agreed protocols were in place and the Argentines adhered to them, then the intervention was out of order and (contrary to my original comment) sensationalist and maybe deliberate?

Cant believe argies ignored protocols..... but must question why their premier league players travelled when 9 brazillian players didnt because they knew be isolated on return as Brazil is on red list? also other players not playing for other countries as be going to a red list country..... wouldn't he surprised to see Brazil given the tie as no room to replay game

Thanks, Ned. If agreed protocols were in place and the Argentines adhered to them, then the intervention was out of order and (contrary to my original comment) sensationalist and maybe deliberate?

Does seem like the Argentinian FA and the Brazilian health officials have very differing views on the protocols.

If it was agreed that the Argentinian players were exempt from quarantine, then the actions of the Brazilian health officials are shameful.

As you said, why on earth didn't they stop the players when they arrived into the country if they honestly believed it was against ALL protocols?

It appears they intentionally did this after the match had started, to make a point in public.

Their argument was that the traffic in Sao Paolo is notoriously bad, so they couldn't get to the stadium before kick off. But they should have sorted this the minute the four individuals entered the country.

Cant believe argies ignored protocols..... but must question why their premier league players travelled when 9 brazillian players didnt because they knew be isolated on return as Brazil is on red list? also other players not playing for other countries as be going to a red list country..... wouldn't he surprised to see Brazil given the tie as no room to replay game

Problem is that the Argentinians are claiming the agreed protocols were that Premier League players would be exempt from quarantine.

Have a feeling this fixture won't be resolved anytime soon. No time to play the match, as you say. But the Argentinians are also unlikely to accept any decision that gives the match to Brazil.

Like I said above, if they thought they were really breaking all the protocols then they should have been detained the minute they arrived in the country.

Thanks, Ned. If agreed protocols were in place and the Argentines adhered to them, then the intervention was out of order and (contrary to my original comment) sensationalist and maybe deliberate?

Does seem like the Argentinian FA and the Brazilian health officials have very differing views on the protocols.

If it was agreed that the Argentinian players were exempt from quarantine, then the actions of the Brazilian health officials are shameful.

As you said, why on earth didn't they stop the players when they arrived into the country if they honestly believed it was against ALL protocols?

It appears they intentionally did this after the match had started, to make a point in public.

Their argument was that the traffic in Sao Paolo is notoriously bad, so they couldn't get to the stadium before kick off. But they should have sorted this the minute the four individuals entered the country.

Totally agree, Ned

Cant believe argies ignored protocols..... but must question why their premier league players travelled when 9 brazillian players didnt because they knew be isolated on return as Brazil is on red list? also other players not playing for other countries as be going to a red list country..... wouldn't he surprised to see Brazil given the tie as no room to replay game

Problem is that the Argentinians are claiming the agreed protocols were that Premier League players would be exempt from quarantine.

Have a feeling this fixture won't be resolved anytime soon. No time to play the match, as you say. But the Argentinians are also unlikely to accept any decision that gives the match to Brazil.

Like I said above, if they thought they were really breaking all the protocols then they should have been detained the minute they arrived in the country.

Still doesn't answer the question why the players were allowed to leave uk when their clubs knew they would be quarantined when got back because Brazil is on red list? Everyman and his dog knew this thats why premier league refused to allow players to be released by their clubs if they were travelling to a red listed country so whatever Brazil told Argentina players they were still having to be isolated on return to UK ....... apparently the players were told to isolate before being deported but they went to stadium instead if you believe brazillian authorities..... like said 9 Brazilian players from uk teams not allowed to go and the Argentina uk based contingent didn't know this sounds dubious in extreme.

The long and short of this saga! Villa players given permission to travel and would miss one league game... spurs players didn't have permission to travel so will be disciplined on return... the reason why authorities went on pitch was because Argentina official didn't fill in paper work properly on entry to country so the 4 players were let In without quarantining as per restrictions.....when this was discovered the 4 players needed special dispensation by brazillian gvmnt to have quarantine wavered ? Unfortunately gvmnt dept was on holiday so permission wasn't granted..... players were supposed to stay in hotel and not go to game
when it was discovered they had left hotel with the team the health officials went to ground to make them quarantine which led to pitch invasion....... And that folks is the saga of the farce last night.

The long and short of this saga! Villa players given permission to travel and would miss one league game... spurs players didn't have permission to travel so will be disciplined on return... the reason why authorities went on pitch was because Argentina official didn't fill in paper work properly on entry to country so the 4 players were let In without quarantining as per restrictions.....when this was discovered the 4 players needed special dispensation by brazillian gvmnt to have quarantine wavered ? Unfortunately gvmnt dept was on holiday so permission wasn't granted..... players were supposed to stay in hotel and not go to game
when it was discovered they had left hotel with the team the health officials went to ground to make them quarantine which led to pitch invasion....... And that folks is the saga of the farce last night.

PS spurs Players want to go to Croatia (green list country) for 10 days with the villa players so that they can avoid having to stay in quarantine hotel as per uk rules if come back from red list country (Brazil) gvmnt have not made statement on this plan

The long and short of this saga! Villa players given permission to travel and would miss one league game... spurs players didn't have permission to travel so will be disciplined on return... the reason why authorities went on pitch was because Argentina official didn't fill in paper work properly on entry to country so the 4 players were let In without quarantining as per restrictions.....when this was discovered the 4 players needed special dispensation by brazillian gvmnt to have quarantine wavered ? Unfortunately gvmnt dept was on holiday so permission wasn't granted..... players were supposed to stay in hotel and not go to game
when it was discovered they had left hotel with the team the health officials went to ground to make them quarantine which led to pitch invasion....... And that folks is the saga of the farce last night.

PS spurs Players want to go to Croatia (green list country) for 10 days with the villa players so that they can avoid having to stay in quarantine hotel as per uk rules if come back from red list country (Brazil) gvmnt have not made statement on this plan

Sounds like even more of a mess now.

FIFA not impressed with either side on it, so it will be interesting to see how they try and resolve the fixture.

The long and short of this saga! Villa players given permission to travel and would miss one league game... spurs players didn't have permission to travel so will be disciplined on return... the reason why authorities went on pitch was because Argentina official didn't fill in paper work properly on entry to country so the 4 players were let In without quarantining as per restrictions.....when this was discovered the 4 players needed special dispensation by brazillian gvmnt to have quarantine wavered ? Unfortunately gvmnt dept was on holiday so permission wasn't granted..... players were supposed to stay in hotel and not go to game
when it was discovered they had left hotel with the team the health officials went to ground to make them quarantine which led to pitch invasion....... And that folks is the saga of the farce last night.

PS spurs Players want to go to Croatia (green list country) for 10 days with the villa players so that they can avoid having to stay in quarantine hotel as per uk rules if come back from red list country (Brazil) gvmnt have not made statement on this plan

Sounds like even more of a mess now.

FIFA not impressed with either side on it, so it will be interesting to see how they try and resolve the fixture.

My thoughts on it is the argies knew Brazil were 9 players short in squad so tried to pull fast one at airport with their players who should not have been there..... so having a stronger team as possible ? if fifa are man enough they'll award game to Brazil as after what I put the argies were clearly at fault particularly as their players knew the score on quarantine before they left uk and they knew authorities didn't grant dispensation for playing once it was known players came from uk. At present no room in calendar for the game to go ahead unless fifa bend the rules and get cooperation from various leagues to release players for a one off game.
Ps what I wrote came from tim vickery so as reliable as can get regarding the facts of what happened

The long and short of this saga! Villa players given permission to travel and would miss one league game... spurs players didn't have permission to travel so will be disciplined on return... the reason why authorities went on pitch was because Argentina official didn't fill in paper work properly on entry to country so the 4 players were let In without quarantining as per restrictions.....when this was discovered the 4 players needed special dispensation by brazillian gvmnt to have quarantine wavered ? Unfortunately gvmnt dept was on holiday so permission wasn't granted..... players were supposed to stay in hotel and not go to game
when it was discovered they had left hotel with the team the health officials went to ground to make them quarantine which led to pitch invasion....... And that folks is the saga of the farce last night.

PS spurs Players want to go to Croatia (green list country) for 10 days with the villa players so that they can avoid having to stay in quarantine hotel as per uk rules if come back from red list country (Brazil) gvmnt have not made statement on this plan

Sounds like even more of a mess now.

FIFA not impressed with either side on it, so it will be interesting to see how they try and resolve the fixture.

My thoughts on it is the argies knew Brazil were 9 players short in squad so tried to pull fast one at airport with their players who should not have been there..... so having a stronger team as possible ? if fifa are man enough they'll award game to Brazil as after what I put the argies were clearly at fault particularly as their players knew the score on quarantine before they left uk and they knew authorities didn't grant dispensation for playing once it was known players came from uk. At present no room in calendar for the game to go ahead unless fifa bend the rules and get cooperation from various leagues to release players for a one off game.
Ps what I wrote came from tim vickery so as reliable as can get regarding the facts of what happened

Agreed, you can't get more reliable than Tim Vickery when it comes to South American football.


He also said this whole thing could come up again in October, when there is another triple-header full of qualifiers.

Can't imagine the Premier League clubs who did release players are happy. Already been told they won't have their players for this weekend and it will be the same after the October international break with South Americans counties.


Even those who didn't release their South American players might not be able to use them this weekend or the weekend after the October international break.

If they want to, then FIFA have the power to ban clubs from using players they didn't release for international duty for up to five days after the international break was due to end.

These international breaks in South America are ending on Thursdays at the moment as well, so the players don't get back until the Saturday anyway.

The long and short of this saga! Villa players given permission to travel and would miss one league game... spurs players didn't have permission to travel so will be disciplined on return... the reason why authorities went on pitch was because Argentina official didn't fill in paper work properly on entry to country so the 4 players were let In without quarantining as per restrictions.....when this was discovered the 4 players needed special dispensation by brazillian gvmnt to have quarantine wavered ? Unfortunately gvmnt dept was on holiday so permission wasn't granted..... players were supposed to stay in hotel and not go to game
when it was discovered they had left hotel with the team the health officials went to ground to make them quarantine which led to pitch invasion....... And that folks is the saga of the farce last night.

PS spurs Players want to go to Croatia (green list country) for 10 days with the villa players so that they can avoid having to stay in quarantine hotel as per uk rules if come back from red list country (Brazil) gvmnt have not made statement on this plan

Sounds like even more of a mess now.

FIFA not impressed with either side on it, so it will be interesting to see how they try and resolve the fixture.

My thoughts on it is the argies knew Brazil were 9 players short in squad so tried to pull fast one at airport with their players who should not have been there..... so having a stronger team as possible ? if fifa are man enough they'll award game to Brazil as after what I put the argies were clearly at fault particularly as their players knew the score on quarantine before they left uk and they knew authorities didn't grant dispensation for playing once it was known players came from uk. At present no room in calendar for the game to go ahead unless fifa bend the rules and get cooperation from various leagues to release players for a one off game.
Ps what I wrote came from tim vickery so as reliable as can get regarding the facts of what happened

Agreed, you can't get more reliable than Tim Vickery when it comes to South American football.


He also said this whole thing could come up again in October, when there is another triple-header full of qualifiers.

Can't imagine the Premier League clubs who did release players are happy. Already been told they won't have their players for this weekend and it will be the same after the October international break with South Americans counties.


Even those who didn't release their South American players might not be able to use them this weekend or the weekend after the October international break.

If they want to, then FIFA have the power to ban clubs from using players they didn't release for international duty for up to five days after the international break was due to end.

These international breaks in South America are ending on Thursdays at the moment as well, so the players don't get back until the Saturday anyway.

Think all the clubs who didn't let players go away are ok as it was the leagues who sanctioned not releasing players... villa knew their 2 would miss wkends game as planned whole thing hence in Croatia for 10days.. but spurs on other hand got decision to make as to how punish their two players when get back.. come next round of games I suspect all the countries on red list or who require people entering country to quarantine will excempt players from quarantine to avoid the farce we've witnessed .. but suspect this wont happen if players from premier league go to countries on our red list they'll probably do what villa did send them to green country to can keep fit ready to play on return.. .. reall things should been sorted before this round of qualifying started sloppy by all concerned

Fifa opening disciplinary proceedings against both countries.

The long and short of this saga! Villa players given permission to travel and would miss one league game... spurs players didn't have permission to travel so will be disciplined on return... the reason why authorities went on pitch was because Argentina official didn't fill in paper work properly on entry to country so the 4 players were let In without quarantining as per restrictions.....when this was discovered the 4 players needed special dispensation by brazillian gvmnt to have quarantine wavered ? Unfortunately gvmnt dept was on holiday so permission wasn't granted..... players were supposed to stay in hotel and not go to game
when it was discovered they had left hotel with the team the health officials went to ground to make them quarantine which led to pitch invasion....... And that folks is the saga of the farce last night.

PS spurs Players want to go to Croatia (green list country) for 10 days with the villa players so that they can avoid having to stay in quarantine hotel as per uk rules if come back from red list country (Brazil) gvmnt have not made statement on this plan

Sounds like even more of a mess now.

FIFA not impressed with either side on it, so it will be interesting to see how they try and resolve the fixture.

My thoughts on it is the argies knew Brazil were 9 players short in squad so tried to pull fast one at airport with their players who should not have been there..... so having a stronger team as possible ? if fifa are man enough they'll award game to Brazil as after what I put the argies were clearly at fault particularly as their players knew the score on quarantine before they left uk and they knew authorities didn't grant dispensation for playing once it was known players came from uk. At present no room in calendar for the game to go ahead unless fifa bend the rules and get cooperation from various leagues to release players for a one off game.
Ps what I wrote came from tim vickery so as reliable as can get regarding the facts of what happened

Even those who didn't release their South American players might not be able to use them this weekend or the weekend after the October international break.

If they want to, then FIFA have the power to ban clubs from using players they didn't release for international duty for up to five days after the international break was due to end.

Brazil have now invoked this rule.


Thiago Silva, Fred, Ederson, Gabriel Jesus, Raphinha, Roberto Firmino, Fabinho and Allison Becker have been banned from playing in the Premier League games at the weekend. Silva and Fred are also banned from playing in the Champions League next week.



Mexico, Paraguay and Chile also invoked the rule to stop Raul Jimenez, Miguel Almiron and Francisco Sierralta from playing for their clubs this weekend.



Brazil have been lenient and let Richarlison play for Everton on Monday though. This is because he showed good commitment to them by playing in both the Copa America and the Olympics for them this summer.

The long and short of this saga! Villa players given permission to travel and would miss one league game... spurs players didn't have permission to travel so will be disciplined on return... the reason why authorities went on pitch was because Argentina official didn't fill in paper work properly on entry to country so the 4 players were let In without quarantining as per restrictions.....when this was discovered the 4 players needed special dispensation by brazillian gvmnt to have quarantine wavered ? Unfortunately gvmnt dept was on holiday so permission wasn't granted..... players were supposed to stay in hotel and not go to game
when it was discovered they had left hotel with the team the health officials went to ground to make them quarantine which led to pitch invasion....... And that folks is the saga of the farce last night.

PS spurs Players want to go to Croatia (green list country) for 10 days with the villa players so that they can avoid having to stay in quarantine hotel as per uk rules if come back from red list country (Brazil) gvmnt have not made statement on this plan

Sounds like even more of a mess now.

FIFA not impressed with either side on it, so it will be interesting to see how they try and resolve the fixture.

My thoughts on it is the argies knew Brazil were 9 players short in squad so tried to pull fast one at airport with their players who should not have been there..... so having a stronger team as possible ? if fifa are man enough they'll award game to Brazil as after what I put the argies were clearly at fault particularly as their players knew the score on quarantine before they left uk and they knew authorities didn't grant dispensation for playing once it was known players came from uk. At present no room in calendar for the game to go ahead unless fifa bend the rules and get cooperation from various leagues to release players for a one off game.
Ps what I wrote came from tim vickery so as reliable as can get regarding the facts of what happened

Even those who didn't release their South American players might not be able to use them this weekend or the weekend after the October international break.

If they want to, then FIFA have the power to ban clubs from using players they didn't release for international duty for up to five days after the international break was due to end.

Brazil have now invoked this rule.


Thiago Silva, Fred, Ederson, Gabriel Jesus, Raphinha, Roberto Firmino, Fabinho and Allison Becker have been banned from playing in the Premier League games at the weekend. Silva and Fred are also banned from playing in the Champions League next week.



Mexico, Paraguay and Chile also invoked the rule to stop Raul Jimenez, Miguel Almiron and Francisco Sierralta from playing for their clubs this weekend.



Brazil have been lenient and let Richarlison play for Everton on Monday though. This is because he showed good commitment to them by playing in both the Copa America and the Olympics for them this summer.

Premier League clubs will contest FIFA's enforcing of Brazil’s request to ban players for 5 days.

Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Leeds United believe there is no basis for such action given the circumstances around Covid restrictions.

The long and short of this saga! Villa players given permission to travel and would miss one league game... spurs players didn't have permission to travel so will be disciplined on return... the reason why authorities went on pitch was because Argentina official didn't fill in paper work properly on entry to country so the 4 players were let In without quarantining as per restrictions.....when this was discovered the 4 players needed special dispensation by brazillian gvmnt to have quarantine wavered ? Unfortunately gvmnt dept was on holiday so permission wasn't granted..... players were supposed to stay in hotel and not go to game
when it was discovered they had left hotel with the team the health officials went to ground to make them quarantine which led to pitch invasion....... And that folks is the saga of the farce last night.

PS spurs Players want to go to Croatia (green list country) for 10 days with the villa players so that they can avoid having to stay in quarantine hotel as per uk rules if come back from red list country (Brazil) gvmnt have not made statement on this plan

Sounds like even more of a mess now.

FIFA not impressed with either side on it, so it will be interesting to see how they try and resolve the fixture.

My thoughts on it is the argies knew Brazil were 9 players short in squad so tried to pull fast one at airport with their players who should not have been there..... so having a stronger team as possible ? if fifa are man enough they'll award game to Brazil as after what I put the argies were clearly at fault particularly as their players knew the score on quarantine before they left uk and they knew authorities didn't grant dispensation for playing once it was known players came from uk. At present no room in calendar for the game to go ahead unless fifa bend the rules and get cooperation from various leagues to release players for a one off game.
Ps what I wrote came from tim vickery so as reliable as can get regarding the facts of what happened

Even those who didn't release their South American players might not be able to use them this weekend or the weekend after the October international break.

If they want to, then FIFA have the power to ban clubs from using players they didn't release for international duty for up to five days after the international break was due to end.

Brazil have now invoked this rule.


Thiago Silva, Fred, Ederson, Gabriel Jesus, Raphinha, Roberto Firmino, Fabinho and Allison Becker have been banned from playing in the Premier League games at the weekend. Silva and Fred are also banned from playing in the Champions League next week.



Mexico, Paraguay and Chile also invoked the rule to stop Raul Jimenez, Miguel Almiron and Francisco Sierralta from playing for their clubs this weekend.



Brazil have been lenient and let Richarlison play for Everton on Monday though. This is because he showed good commitment to them by playing in both the Copa America and the Olympics for them this summer.

Premier League clubs will contest FIFA's enforcing of Brazil’s request to ban players for 5 days.

Manchester United, Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Leeds United believe there is no basis for such action given the circumstances around Covid restrictions.

The clubs should have bit the bullet and did what villa did allow them 2 games come home early to croatia for 10days miss one game.... but a total balls up by everyone in football.