FIFA confirmed on Monday a replay of the controversial match between Brazil and Argentina in the South American qualifier for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar after its appeals committee rejected an appeal by the two concerned national federations.
The clash between one of the best teams in the world was scheduled to take place on September 5 in Sao Paulo, but was stopped just five minutes after the whistle started, after local health authorities intervened and accused four players in the English Premier League of violating protocol to fight the virus Crowns.
For its part, FIFA decided last February to replay the match, suspending four Argentine players for two matches and penalizing the Argentine and Brazilian federations, who later announced an appeal of the decision.
The International Football Association said in a statement that its appeals committee had made it clear that the match should be replayed and that the CHF 50,000 (about €48,000) fine imposed on each of the two associations due to the final suspension of the match should be supported.
For its part, the Appeals Committee later reduced the fine imposed on the Brazilian Football Confederation from CHF 550,000 to CHF 250,000 (about EUR 240,000) and on its Argentinean counterpart from CHF 250,000 to CHF 100,000 (about Euro).
Although the match did not take place, Brazil, led by their star Neymar, and Argentina, led by legend Lionel Messi, booked their places at the World Cup in Qatar, which will be held from November 21 to December 18, finishing first and second in the combined group. .
The match will be marginal in terms of impact on the standings of the two teams if the “samba dancers” come out ahead and the “tango dancers” come second.
