SAO PAULO (AP) – Brazil’s premier national football championship begins on Saturday after a three-month delay on the same day, the South American country is expected to succeed in the bleak milestone of 100,000 deaths by COVID-19.
Three parties will open the country’s Serie A, in a major victory for President Jair Bolsonaro, who downplayed the dangers of the disease and insisted that life and play return to normal.
Brazil has reported an average of 1,000 deaths from the virus over more than two months, and nearly 3 million more people are infected. But the country’s football leaders felt confident enough to launch the national championship, a milestone that neighboring Argentina, where about 4,200 people have died from the disease, has yet to reach.
The club’s executives and players have been silent about the start-up, but others have not. One of the top vocal critics is former Globo footballer and television commentator Walter Casagrande.
“We can’t what’s going on in this country. We will get 100,000 dead, a dreadful figure, and football is on the move,” said Casagrande, former national team, porto striker and Turin, on Wednesday during the first match of the Sao Paulo State League top between Corinthians and Palmeiras. I’m embarrassed by this situation, but that’s my job. I’m here to communicate about football. “
The state leagues that open the Brazilian season began to go back in June after the open tension of Brazilian and South American champion Flamengo. These tournaments had to be completed for the national festival to begin.
Jorge Pagura, head of the medical commission of the Brazilian football confederation, said that the anti-COVID-19 protocol for the national championship is “at the point of maximum security”. The measurements come with tests 3 days before matches for the 23 members of the team, the two coaches and the 4 referees.
The national championship will see the groups fly on a tight schedule in a country as big as the continental United States. Players will be exposed to the threat of disease at various airports, planes and hotels, and the will of places where the pandemic may be at a worse level than in their places of origin.
Brazilian protocols mean that no more than three hundred people will attend matches, adding players, club staff, executives and media. Only six ball pickers will be allowed and everyone should wash their hands and footballs with alcohol is possible.
President Bolsonaro, passionate about football, spoke about the opening of the Brazilian championship on a broadcast on Thursday night.
“We regret each and every death, we will succeed in 100,000, but let’s move on and get out of this problem,” he said.
The Brazilian championship is expected to finish in February. Flamengo is the favorite to retain his title.
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