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Lionel Messi is arguably the best and the most loved football player in the world and India has a huge fanbase that supports him. Fans from India could have got a chance to see the legend Messi play live but the All India Football Federation (AIFF) rejected the opportunity due to lack of funds. The FIFA World Cup 2022 champions had two slots available for friendlies during the ongoing international window and wanted to play in Asia.
According to reports, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) approached the AIFF and the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) for possible friendlies in June. However, both countries could not afford the huge appearance fee that Argentina demanded, which was around USD 4-5 million (approx. INR 32-40 Crore).
AIFF Secretary General Shaji Prabhakaran confirmed that they received a proposal from AFA but had to turn it down as they did not have a strong partner to back them financially. "The Argentina FA reached out to us for a friendly, but it was just not possible to arrange such a huge sum. For such a match to happen here, we need the backing of a strong partner. The kind of money that Argentina commands is huge and we have limitations in terms of our economic situation in football," Prabhakaran told TOI.
The Secretary also said that it would have been a mismatch if India, who are ranked 99th in the FIFA rankings, played against World Cup winners Argentina. Prabhakaran said, "There would have been too much mismatch if India played."
Instead of playing in India or Bangladesh, Argentina opted to play against Australia and Indonesia in Beijing and Jakarta respectively. La Albiceleste won both matches 2-0, with Messi scoring once against Australia but was not a part of the squad against Indonesia. Although the friendly game couldn’t be materialized, the Argentina FA and AIFF are in talks for some sort of partnership.
Argentina has only played against India once, which was in 2011 when they beat Venezuela 1-0 in Kolkata with a goal from Nicolas Otamendi. The match saw around 85,000 spectators, who had come to watch the football giants in Argentina.
