PANAMA ALLEGE IRREGULARITIES IN COVID TESTING, WANT A REPLAY

In another edition of only in CONCACAF, Panama is looking to launch a complaint to FIFA to have their match against Mexico replayed. If they go through with their statements, this will be the second COVID-related complaint in the past few days in CONCACAF.

THE CLAIM

Panama claims that Cesar Montes’ PCR test took longer than usual to give a negative result and showed some irregularities. Panama looks to invoke subparagraph 3 of Article 55 of FIFA regulations, stating that in the event of irregularities in testing, the match may be replayed, three points may be deducted or the offending squad can be eliminated from the competition.

THE COUNTERCLAIM

As of now, Mexico has yet to address the claim. Nonetheless, if El Tri needs to defend itself against these allegations, they can state the fact that the tests are administered by CONCACAF and not the Mexican Federation. 

THE POSSIBLE OUTCOME

As of writing, Panama has yet to officially file any form of complaint to FIFA. However, they have stated that they do not wish to have Cesar Montes or Mexico penalized or suspended if it’s proven that the claims are true. They simply wish to replay the match in hopes of bettering the 1-0 adverse score from the original match.

 I think the latter is the more worrying part of the claim. Panama is convinced that they can draw or beat El Tri at the Azteca if given the opportunity.

Whether or not the claim is made official and any actions are taken remains to be seen. This does continue to bring into question the way CONCACAF is handling COVID in recent qualifying windows. Claims against Costa Rica, the Timothy Weah incident, and the game played in subzero temperature have cast a shadow on what has been surprising qualifiers so far.

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