When Gonzalo Higuain secretly travel to Argentina, there was outrage fearing that the coronavirus might spread even further.
Italy has been heavily affected by the COVID-19 outbreak, with around 60,000 cases now reported in the country, and the whole nation placed into quarantine for two weeks.
In reality, he asked permission from Juventus to go back to his home country so that he could be with his mother who is battling with cancer.
His lawyer, Rinaldo Romanelli disagreed with such a move, prompting a response from Higuain’s brother, Nicola in a Facebook post.
“Our mother, like so many other people in the world, is battling a disease called cancer.
“These people clearly don’t care about my mother’s health, they only care about mentioning the magic word that in this case is ‘Higuain’, that’s how this business works.
“Obviously everyone knows who this message is for and I don’t like to generalise.
“My brother, Gonzalo, travelled with the authorisation of the club and with a certificate that proves he is negative for Covid-19.
“Like any other Argentine citizen in this country, he is carrying out the quarantine measures requested by our president.
“Higuain did not run away, OK? The reason is so that he could be with our mother during this undesirable situation
“Please do not use the magic word in this delicate family moment. It’s better to put your efforts into doing more important things right now. Thank you.”
Higuain is the second Juventus player to leave Italy during COVID-19 outbreak after after Cristiano Ronaldo travelled to Madeira earlier this month after her mother suffered from a stroke.
Three Juventus players have tested positive for COVID-19 since the outbreak: Daniele Rugani, Blaise Matuidi and Paulo Dybala.