Lionel Messi to add spark to Kerala’s football scene with Argentina’s 2025 visit

The Kerala government announced on Wednesday that the Argentina national football team led by legendary player Lionel Messi will visit the state next year for an international friendly matchAddressing a press conference Sports Minister V Abdurahiman said that the worldrenowned team would play two friendly matches in Kerala with the event being conducted under the complete supervision of the state governmentThe venue and the opponent team would be decided at a later stage Abdurahiman said reacting to a queryThe worlds number one football team Argentina including Lionel Messi is coming to Kerala There will be two matches he saidBREAKING Lionel Messi led Argentina team set to play a friendly in Kerala announces Sports minister of KeralaMessi IndianFootball pictwittercomOBFa8hBUSpmdash IFTWC Indian Football IFTWC November 20 2024The management of the Argentina team would make an official announcement in this regard upon arriving in the state Abdurahiman saidRepresentatives of the football team are expected to visit the southern state within one and a half months the minister saidWe government have decided to make a joint announcement in this regard with the Argentina national team management he saidThe minister said that he had recently visited Spain to hold discussions with representatives of the Argentina national team and to extend an official invitation for their visit to the stateAlso Read Climate activists target Lionel Messis mansion in Spains IbizaHe said that talks were held with individuals associated with the team who agreed to visit India in 2025 and participate in the friendly match eventResponding to a question he said that the decision regarding the teams arrival has been finalised and there are no changes to itHe noted that the government would directly oversee the match security and other arrangementsThe minister said that the match would take place next year but the date would be announced by the Argentina Football Association AFA in accordance with their proceduresMaking it clear that the match would be held in a stadium with a capacity of at least 50000 people he indicated that Kochi is likely to be the venueThe minister pointed out that India has the largest support base for the Argentina football team with onefourth of the fans residing in Kerala This is the primary reason for the Argentina teams decision to visit the stateFinancial support for organising the highprofile football event will be provided by the traders of the state he addedAbdurahiman also expressed confidence in Keralas capability to host this historic occasionIn September this year a delegation from Kerala led by Abdurahiman visited Spain to seek collaboration with the Argentine Football Association AFAAfter holding a meeting with its officebearers in Madrid Abdurahiman said that the collaboration with AFA would be a significant investment for Kerala and expressed his desire to make it a reality as soon as possibleThe possibility of considering Kerala as a venue for international friendly matches was discussed As part of this the association representatives expressed interest in visiting Kerala soon AFA also expressed interest in setting up football academies in Kerala in collaboration with the state government he had said in a Facebook postCommenting on their meeting the AFA had said Together with the delegation from the Government of Kerala headed by V Abdurahiman Minister of Sports we had the opportunity to share initiatives and projects that will surely materialize in the short termIn recent years the association has established itself as one of the most important and popular sports brands in this strategic market through its global expansion strategy it had said in a statementIn this context our institution is working on developing sports and commercial projects in different parts of the country with the aim of continuing to expand our brand and being closer to the fans of the Argentine National Team in India it had addedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever