A WORLD Cup qualifier between Brazil and Argentina was suspended amid chaotic scenes after local health officials walked onto the pitch Sunday in a bid to remove three players who didn’t comply with coronavirus restrictions.

The game featuring Argentina’s Lionel Messi and Brazil’s Neymar was stopped in the 7th minute because of the extraordinary interruption. The referee eventually suspended the game with the score at 0-0 after players, coaches, soccer officials and local authorities argued for several minutes on the field.

Brazil’s health agency said three of Argentina’s England-based players should have been in quarantine instead of playing in the match. FIFA will have to determine what happens next with the qualifier.

Antonio Barra Torres, the president of Brazil’s health agency, Anvisa, said four Argentina players would be fined and deported for breaching Brazil’s COVID-19 protocols.

The four had been ordered to quarantine by Brazil’s health agency ahead of the game. Despite that order, three of the four started for Argentina.

Aston Villa’s Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia and Tottenham’s Giovanni Lo Celso and Cristian Romero joined the Argentina squad despite the Premier League not wanting players to be released for international duty because of the need to quarantine for 10 days in a hotel on their return.

The Argentina soccer federation tweeted Sunday night the message “We are going home!” along with a picture of the squad, including Martinez and Buendia, boarding a flight for Buenos Aires.

TV Globo reported that the four England-based players told Brazilian police at the airport they did not fill their entry forms upon arrival.

Brazil’s health agency said all four allegedly told immigration officers that in the previous 14 days they hadn’t been to Britain or anywhere else that Brazil puts on its own red list for COVID-19 risks. Those who have been in countries on the so-called red list face a 14-day quarantine in Brazil.

(SD-Agencies)