Argentina stars Giovani Lo Celso, Cristian Romero, Emiliano Martinez and Emi Buendia under investigation by Brazilian authorities for ‘breaching quarantine rules’ and face TWO WEEKS of isolation before their return to the UK
- Clubs agreed not to release players who faced travelling to red-list countries
- Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero defied club orders to play for Argentina
- Stars could miss at least three matches because of quarantine requirements
- Premier League clubs concerned they will face the same problem in October
The saga surrounding the Premier League’s Argentinian players was plunged into yet more chaos on Saturday after it emerged they were under investigation by the Brazilian authorities for breaching quarantine rules.
Tottenham duo Giovani Lo Celso and Cristian Romero as well as Aston Villa pair Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia could face 14 days of quarantine in Brazil before another 10 days on their return to the UK leaving their Premier League clubs in turmoil.
They have been accused of failing to declare on official documents that they had been in the United Kingdom in the past 14 days when they arrived in Sao Paulo on Friday ahead of Argentina’s huge World Cup qualifier against Brazil.
Giovani Lo Celso (right) and Cristian Romero defied club orders not to join up with Argentina
In a remarkable turn of events, the players are alleged to have declared they had been in Argentina and Venezuela but not the UK despite having either featured or been on the bench for their club’s games in the Premier League – the most-watched league in the world – last weekend.
Brazilian law states that anyone who has been in the UK during that time must quarantine in a hotel for 14 days, a move that would mean the four players could not return until at least September 18 before a further 10 days in a UK hotel following a visit to a red-list country.
That would rule the players out of at least three Premier League games, one round of Carabao Cup fixtures, and at least one of Spurs’ Europa Conference League fixtures. The Tottenham players had originally defied club orders not to travel on international duty.
Argentina are expected to hold on to Aston Villa duo Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia
However, Government sources in Sao Paulo last night suggested the players were unlikely to be kept in a hotel for 14 days and could instead be ordered to pay a fine and leave the country.
Health officials were due to visit the Argentinian team hotel last night to check the players’ documents.
A spokesman for Brazil’s health regulator Anvisa said: ‘These players arrived in Brazil on a flight from Caracas. The flight landed in Guarulhos (Sao Paulo). They declared that they had not been in any of the four countries which are restricted for the past 14 days. Anvisa was warned about supposedly false information given by these players.
‘After that, Anvisa sent a notification to CIEVS (institution in charge of Covid-19 restrictions in the state of Sao Paulo). We have to clarify that false information given to Brazilian authorities might be infractions of health laws of the country and might be an infraction of our criminal law.’
The maximum sentence for breaking the criminal law in question carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison, though usually carries a fine.
On a night of wild confusion as the news unfolded, there were claims that the allegations would not hold as the players had been part of a team bubble. However, sources in Sao Paolo insisted there were no bubbles authorized by the Brazilian government.
The Argentina squad arrived in Sao Paulo on Friday, a day after their qualifying victory in Venezuela. The Argentinian FA claimed Conmebol had been made aware of the situation, though the South American federation insisted it was not their issue to resolve.
This all comes against a backdrop of high emotion and frustration ahead of a huge World Cup qualifier between two fierce rivals, who had played out the Copa America final only two months ago.
There is anger in Brazil that they were deprived of their key players after Premier League clubs agreed not to release their players to red-list countries. That meant they went into this international break without the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Thiago Silva and Alisson.
However, Lo Celso and Romero both defied orders by Tottenham not to join up with the Argentina squad while Villa only allowed their two to travel on the proviso they were missed their final game of the international break against Bolivia later this week.
It meant that an under-strength Brazil would have to face an Argentina side packed with its star players. Brazil are expected to demand that FIFA sanction the Premier League clubs who had refused to release their players.
There were also suspicions last night that the Brazilian FA were putting pressure on authorities to ensure the Argentinian players could not feature in this evening’s game but it still remained to be seen whether the quartet had failed to declare their whereabouts on official documents.
It remained unclear and equally incredible last night how the Argentinian FA as well as Lo Celso, Romero, Martinez and Buendia thought they would be able to enter Brazil and surpass clear quarantine rules to feature in tonight’s game.