BRAZIL and Argentina were all set to grab the world's attention THIS SATURDAY as the South American heavyweights had plans to face off in Australia.
However, Argentina's reported reluctance to travel has resulted in the match being abandoned – infuriating Victoria's events and sports minister, Martin Pakula.
And with this situation coming only nine months after the FIFA World Cup postponement between the two nations, a lot of supporters have been left disappointed.
But why has the match been called off and what caused the postponement nine months ago?
Why has Brazil vs Argentina been cancelled?
The South American giants were due to meet at the MCG on Saturday, June 11 in Australia where approximately 60,000 tickets had already been sold.
But the Brazilian Federation CBF stated that the decision to cancel the match was down to the Argentine Federation.
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And despite there being no comments coming out of the Argentine camp, early reports suggested that they were reluctant to travel which was later on confirmed by the match organisers.
A statement read "Regrettably, event organisers have been informed by Pitch, the Superclasico 11 June 2022 match agent, that contrary to their prior agreement and commitment to do so, Argentina are no longer prepared to travel to Australia for the match against Brazil."
There is no rescheduled date as of yet.
What has been said?
Martin Pakula expressed that he was "pretty p***** off" by Argentina's decision to withdraw from the match.
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Pakula said: "I know Brazil is very upset. It's really impacting their preparation for the World Cup.
"It's a game that would have been extremely popular here in Melbourne.
"I welcome the comments by the promoter overnight that all the fans will receive a full refund."
The last time a Superclasico took place at the MCG five years ago, more than 95,000 fans turned out for the occasion with the likes of Lionel Messi and Philippe Coutinho on show.
Why did the match nine months ago get suspended?
Brazil's World Cup Qualifier against Argentina on September 6, 2021 was suspended courtesy of Brazilian health officials entering the pitch after only seven minutes of play.
The officials confronted the Argentine players before ordering them off the field and the match was shortly abandoned.
Reason being was because of a row over Covid regulations which claimed that Giovanni Lo Celso, Cristian Romero, Emiliano Martinez and Emiliano Buendia should have been in isolation.
Antonio Barra Torres, President of Brazil's health agency Anvisa stated that the four Argentinian players would be fined and deported for allegedly not following the country's Covid protocols.
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