Thiruvananthapuram/Malappuram: Even as Kerala Sports Minister V Abdurahiman on Tuesday claimed that he had received an email from the Argentine Football Association (AFA), in which the football world champions expressed their willingness to play a friendly game in the state, both the All India Football Federation (AIFF) and the Kerala Football Association (KFA) stated that they have not yet received any official confirmation in this regard.
AIFF Acting Secretary General M Satyanarayan said he was unaware of any such development.
According to official sources, in order to host a national team affiliated to the world's football governing body FIFA, the state government is obliged to seek permission from the AIFF through the KFA. However, officials attached to the KFA said they had not received any official communiqué from the state government.
It is up to the AIFF to provide all the necessary resources to a touring side. The host board needs to ensure grounds of international standards, training facilities, quality accommodation, and hassle-free travel for the visiting team. Besides, steps need to be taken to ensure the squad's safety.
Meanwhile, the AIFF officials welcomed the Kerala government's move to invite the Argentine national team to play in the state. "We are ready to make the necessary arrangements if the state government approaches us with a proposal," they said.
The venue
Sources close to the matter said if Argentina come down to Kerala, the match will be held either in Thiruvananthapuram or Kochi. "The two teams playing the friendly should be provided with training pitches in accordance with FIFA standards. The main venue too needs to be set up in compliance with the requirements established by the FIFA," they said.
After winning the World Cup in 2022, Argentina had proposed to play a friendly in India. However, the plan was dropped after the AFA demanded an appearance fee of around Rs 40 crore. It was then the Kerala government extended an invitation to the world champions to play a friendly match in the state.
Who will be the opponents?
Argentina have been in huge demand for friendly matches since winning the World Cup for the third time in 2022. However, they played only two international friendlies – against Indonesia and Australia, and for both the matches, the AFA charged an appearance fee of Rs 35-40 crore each. The match against Australia, held at the 68,000-capacity Workers' Stadium in Beijing, was organised by a promoter called China Rainbow International Investment Company. Argentina won the match 2-0 with captain Lionel Messi and German Pezzella finding the net. Although Messi did not play against Indonesia, the match had attracted a crowd of 56,000.
The Messi factor
The local organisers might find their coffers brimming if Messi, who is at the fag end of his illustrious career, comes down to Kerala. The champion footballer's captaincy stint began in a match against Venezuela on September 2, 2011, at the Salt Lake's Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata in front of over 80,000 fans. While the friendly match's broadcasting rights were sold for over Rs 20 crore, ticket sales brought in around Rs 5 crore.
