BUENOS AIRES: Argentina President Alberto Fernandez said that he would not travel to Qatar for the final match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
On Sunday, Argentina will play against France for first place in the championship.
“Like millions of compatriots, I will enjoy the World Cup Final at home . I will live this fantastic moment as before, together with my people. The best of ours will be on the field and glorious fans will be in the stands,” Fernandez said on Twitter on Saturday.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he would travel to Qatar on Sunday to attend the World Cup final.
On Wednesday, Macron watched the semifinal game, in which France defeated Morocco 2-0.
On Saturday, Croatia won the World Cup bronze medal, beating Morocco 2-1 in the third-place playoff at the Khalifa Stadium in Qatar.
Notably, media reports said that defending champions France has been affected by a virus that could cause the team’s starting centre-back duo to miss the World Cup final against Argentina on Sunday.
Raphael Varane shows mild signs of the virus, and fellow defender Ibrahima Konate has not left his room since feeling ill, ESPN reported.
Varane and Konate were among five French players who did not report to training two days before the World Cup final versus Argentina. Dayot Upamecano, Adrien Rabiot, and Kingsley Coman were all sick at the start of the week and did not practice on Friday.
France coach Didier Deschamps claimed the team was taking measures to prevent the virus from spreading after Upamecano and Rabiot missed the semifinal win over Morocco.
“In Doha, temperatures have fallen a little bit, you have air conditioning which is on all the time. We’ve had a few cases of flu-like symptoms.
We are trying to be careful so it doesn’t spread, and players have made great efforts out on the pitch and obviously, their immune systems suffer,” said the coach as quoted by ESPN. (ANI)