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The World Cup qualifier between Argentina and Brazil scheduled for Melbourne in June could be at risk after the Argentina Football Association announced it would challenge the requirement to play the match.
A spokesman for AFA announced that they intended to challenge FIFA’s directive to replay the match, which was abandoned after five minutes on September 22 due to a dispute over COVID restrictions.
Brazil and Argentina players talk as the game is interrupted by health authorities.Credit:AP
In controversial scenes, Brazilian government health officials walked on to the pitch in Sao Paolo after kick-off with the score at 0-0 and demanded that the match be called off because four Argentinian players had arrived from England and were allegedly in breach of Brazil’s COVID-19 entry requirements.
Both teams secured their passage to the World Cup in Qatar from September 21 before the abandoned qualifier was rescheduled and set to be held at the MCG on June 11. Brazil have topped the group and Argentina are assured of second spot in the standings. The match would be the first competitive continental fixture between the two giants held outside the Americas.
The Victorian government has contributed towards bringing “El Superclasico” to Melbourne but Argentina’s planned appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport has put the match under a cloud.
“We believe the decision to be unfair and we believe that Argentina did not cause the game to be cancelled,” Andres Urich, an advisor to the AFA, said on Argentine television. “We think we are in the right and we believe we have to take it to the court.”
The Herald sought comment from promoters TEG Live on Saturday.
After the original match last September was cancelled by Brazilian authorities, officials said the Argentines had breached rules stating travellers who had been in the UK, South Africa or India during the previous two weeks were forbidden from entering Brazil unless they were citizens or had permanent residency.
Brazilian officials claim the players misled border officials by declaring they had not been in a red-list country during the 14 days before the game. Argentine officials said they believed the same protocols used in the Copa America in Brazil in June last year were in place for the World Cup qualifiers to allow teams to travel across the continent. The South American Football Confederation confirmed that interpretation.