Lionel Messi and Argentina not visiting Kerala in November, AFA confirms

Kerala’s dream of hosting Lionel Messi and his World Cup-winning Argentina team this November has officially been dashed. Despite repeated claims by the state’s Sports Minister V. Abdurahiman, the Argentine Football Association (AFA) has ruled out any visit to Kerala next month.

According to a report by onmanorama.com, the AFA confirmed that Argentina’s national team, led by coach Lionel Scaloni, will be in Spain for training before heading to Angola for a single friendly match.

“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,” the AFA said in a statement on Saturday.

After the match, the team will return to South America to continue their training until November 18, the day the FIFA World Cup concludes, the association added.

Meanwhile, one of the event’s sponsors, Anto Augustine, said on Facebook that the proposed Kerala match has been postponed. “Due to a delay in getting FIFA’s approval, a decision to postpone the match scheduled for November was taken in a meeting with an AFA official. The match will be held in the next window. The announcement will be made soon,” he wrote in Malayalam.

Adding to the uncertainty, Australia — whom the Kerala government had named as Argentina’s opponents — have also confirmed different plans.

“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,” the FA said.

Australia are set to play Venezuela in Texas on November 14 and Colombia in New York on November 18.

The Kerala government and its private partner had earlier announced that Messi and Argentina would play in Kochi on November 17, attend fan events, and join an open-bus parade — plans now clearly off the table.