Rio: Brazil do not want to play the suspended World Cup qualifier against Argentina due to risks ahead of Qatar 2022, with the Court for Arbitration of Sport (CAS) to rule later in August.
Brazil along with Argentina comfortably qualified for Qatar 2022 world cup despite the September fixture in Sao Paulo being halted after six minutes when Brazilian health officials objected to the participation of four Argentinian players who they claimed broke quarantine rules.
The officials sensationally entered the pitch to remove those four players, with the Argentinian players subsequently walking off amid the chaos. The fixture was suspended.
FIFA fined both national bodies and insisted that the qualifier needed to be completed despite its irrelevance to qualifying.
The Brazil Football Confederation (CBF) and the Argentine Football Association (AFA) took the case to the CAS, who will rule later this month, reports DPA.
No date has been set by FIFA for the fixture, but it is anticipated it will be in September.
CBF president Ednaldo Rodrigues said the national team did not want to play the fixture two months out from the World Cup due to risks with injuries and suspensions along with a possible Argentinian boycott.
“We will reach out to FIFA so this match is not played,” Rodrigues said in a statement.
“I will make every effort to answer to the request of our coaching staff. Our priority is to win a sixth World Cup in Qatar. If that match is not recommended by the coaching staff of the Selecao, we will work for it not to be played.”
–IANS