In truly bizarre scenes, Argentina’s World Cup qualifier with Brazil was interrupted by local authorities trying to deport four players for failing to keep to COVID quarantine protocols.
There are also some Serie A players involved in the match, including Inter striker Lautaro Martinez and Juventus left-back Alex Sandro.
The chaos started this evening just hours before kick-off, when Brazilian authorities announced they would be deporting four Argentina players who had ‘lied’ in order to enter the country.
They are Cristian Romero, Giovani Lo Celso, Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia, representing Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa.
Due to the Delta variant in the United Kingdom, anyone who has come from there needs to quarantine for 14 days in Brazil.
The Argentina squad refused to stand by the orders, starting the Premier League players anyway, including ex-Atalanta defender Cristian Romero.
The match kicked off, but after just five minutes it was interrupted by the Brazilian health authorities, with orders to deport the players.