Lionel Messi and his World Cup-winning Argentina team will not be coming to Kerala in November. This is contrary to what the state’s Sports Minister V Abdurahiman had repeatedly announced earlier.
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has now confirmed their official plans for next month. The schedule does not include any visit to India or Kerala.
According to a statement released by AFA on Saturday, “The Argentine national team, led by Lionel Scaloni, will travel to Spain in November for training and then move to Luanda for their only friendly against Angola on Friday the 14th.”
AFA added, “After the match, the delegation will return to the old continent (South America) to continue their training until November 18th, the day the FIFA World Cup concludes.”
Lionel Messi’s Match in Kerala Postponed
Meanwhile, one of the event sponsors, Anto Augustine, said in a Facebook post written in Malayalam that the proposed match in Kerala has been postponed to a later date.
He wrote, “Due to the delay in getting approval from FIFA, a decision to postpone the match scheduled in the November window was taken during a meeting with an AFA official. The match in Kerala will be played in the next window. The announcement (will be made) soon.”
This news comes as a major disappointment for football fans in Kerala who were eagerly waiting to see Messi play in Kochi.
Earlier, the Kerala government and a private broadcasting company had claimed that Argentina would face Australia at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kaloor, Kochi, on November 17. They had also announced that Messi and the team would attend fan meetings and take part in an open-bus parade before the match.
ALSO READ How to buy Lionel Messi’s Delhi tickets? Where to buy Tickets for Messi GOAT India tour?
However, Football Australia has also confirmed that their team will not be visiting India in November.
In their statement, FA said, “Football Australia is pleased to confirm that the Socceroos will return to the USA during the November FIFA Men’s International Window, to take on Venezuela and Colombia.”
Australia will play Venezuela in Texas on November 14 and Colombia in Queens, New York, on November 18.
This confirms that the much-anticipated Argentina-Australia match in Kerala will not take place next month.
