What Messi told health official who ordered World Cup Qualifier against Brazil to be cancelled

What Messi told health official who ordered World Cup Qualifier against Brazil to be cancelled

SportsBrief.com, Lukman Mumuni
updated at April 12, 2023 at 7:44 PM
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  • Lionel Messi and his teammates were left shell-shocked after their Wolrd Cup qualifier against Brazil was cancelled
  • A Brazilian health official claimed that four players from Albicelsete based in England needed to quarantine for days
  • The six-time Ballon d'Or winner was furious with the official as the match has been postponed until the end of the week

Lionel Messi was left furious after their 2022 CONMEBOL World Cup qualifier between Argentina and Brazil was abandoned, Sport Bible.

The match was already five minutes old when a Brazilian health official stormed the pitch and asked the referee to stop the game.

The official claims four Argentine stars plying their trade in the Premier League had to quarantine before being allowed to play the game.

What Messi told health official who ordered World Cup qualifier against Brazil to be canceled
Lionel Messi was left furious with Brazilian official who cancelled their World Cup qualifier. Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA
Source: Getty Images

However, the Argentine side had been in Brazil three days before kick-off of the game and Messi believes the official should have notified the team during this period before matchday.

Unfortunately, the game did not go on after the intervention of the health worker and Messi's conversation with the official was released by Mirror.

What Messi said

According to RMC Sport Messi told the official:

"We've been here for three days, we were waiting to play the match, why didn't you come earlier?
"This is a mess, we're off!"

What Argentine coach said

Argentine coach Lionel Scaloni was also not happy with the turn of events as he slammed the Brazilian health official for interrupting the match.

"It makes me very sad.
"I am not looking for any culprit. If something happened or did not happen, 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 couldn't play the match. We wanted to play the match, the Brazilian footballers too."

Brazil vs Argentina match cancelled

Meanwhile, YEN.com.gh had earlier reported Brazil's 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Argentina staging at the Corinthians Arena has been abandoned.

The game was stopped after the Brazilian health officials stormed the pitch to prevent four Argentine stars from participating in the match.

Reports claim those stars were said to have flouted quarantine rules, hence, the drama that ensured minutes after the encounter kicked off on Sunday, September 5.

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Lukman Mumuni
Lukman Abdul Mumin is a Sports Journalist based in Accra, Ghana. He has been writing for the past five years. Lukman joined Sports Brief as an Editor for the Local Desk in 2022.
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