Pandemic puts World Cup Qualifiers at risk after Brazil-Argentina suspension

The decision to halt the Brazil-Argentina soccer match highlights how the ongoing pandemic continues to impact soccer. Here’s what can happen next.

It was one of this weekend’s most-anticipated games on the World Cup qualifying schedule. Instead, Brazil versus Argentina degenerated into a farce that could have been totally avoided.

Everyone witnessed just how challenging it continues to be to try and play games during a pandemic. The suspension of Sunday’s match in Sao Paulo could also be the start of other World Cup qualifying games forced to be rescheduled, or even scrapped, as various parts of the globe continue to be affected by COVID-19 and its variants.

Many may want the pandemic to be over, but it isn’t. It remains a public health issue (one the Brazilian government has tried to control by reducing travel and enforcing quarantines), but the money soccer generated worldwide forces it to go on.

The match was suspended after just 10 minutes when Brazilian health officials and police stormed the field to detain four Argentine players who had failed to quarantine upon entering the country. Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia (both of Aston Villa), along with Cristian Romero and Giovani Lo Celso (both of Tottenham) were being investigated for breaking COVID-19 regulations.

It should be noted that Brazil could not call up nine players, all of whom are under contract with Premier League sides, because of COVID-19 rules that forces a 14-day quarantine on the part of anyone coming into the country from Great Britain.

As a result, we never got to see the Copa America final rematch, which had been won by Argentina in July. The Argentines had sought a waiver for their players so they could take the field, but decided to flout the rules after one was never issued.

Sure, the fault lies partly with CONMEBOL, the sport’s South American governing body, for insisting that the Copa America be played this summer despite the pandemic. What they should have done instead was to play as many of the already-delayed World Cup qualifying games in June and July so they could be completed in a timely manner ahead of next year’s tournament in Qatar.

Several scenarios could emerge as a result of what took place. Brazil could be awarded the three points automatically since Argentina was the one that broke the rules and then refused to play minus its players.

Second, the game could be rescheduled, but that’s where the trouble starts. When will it be played given how congested the soccer calendar already is as domestic leagues across Europe are just getting started? One scenario could be to hold the game sometime this fall in Europe, where most of Brazil and Argentina’s players are based.

In the end, the entire incident was a black eye for the international game.

Argentina captain Lionel Messi, in a statement certainly echoed in living rooms and bars across the world, said afterwards: “Why did they start the game and stop it after five minutes? We’ve been here at the stadium for an hour, they could have told us.”