Devotees of Kerala football team were thrown into shock after it was placed on record that Lionel Messi and the national football team of Argentina defaulted on their October, 2025 visit to Kerala when the State Sports Minister V. Abdurahiman made it official on August 4, 2025. It has all gone wrong; months of anticipation, on both sides, had led to promises being made.
What went wrong?
The agreement which was sealed almost six months earlier was between the Kerala government and the Argentina Football Association (AFA) over the high level exhibition game in October. Kerala authorities even released those funds which were necessary though obtaining approvals of the finance department and the Reserve Bank of India.
But when the AFA wrote again recently it pointed to scheduling clashes and told Kerala authorities that the team would be tied up in October. October had been the only possible window insisted upon by the sponsors. The AFA failed to honour the deal and Kerala cancelled the deal formally as the team was not able to assure that it could be available at that timeline. According to the minister, they were only interested in a visit in October and therefore the October only demand was the death blow to the deal.
Returning to India by 2026?
Trying to negotiate a different window, such as March 2026 by the Kerala government was rejected. Since this, Kerala authorities have communicated to the AFA that no proposal can be deferred. Abdurahiman told the Argentine association to be a subject of a financial damage and requested them to pay any losses that could occur on the basis of the breach of agreement. The collapse of the visit is a huge blow to the sport football enthusiasts in Kerala following previous promises by both the state government and the senior officials of the AFA such as marketing director Leandro Peterson that the game was on. Two months back rumours surfaced that Argentina would not come to Kerala but would possibly play matches in China during October break and it seems that Kerala rumours have appeared true and cramped hopes.
As Kerala has missed out on this, recent news indicate that Messi is yet to come to India in December 2025, and his tour could include Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. Proposed events are football sessions as well as a seven a side celebrity cricket match in Wankhede Stadium which may House legends such as Dhoni, Kohli, Tendulkar, and Rohit Sharma. With the Kerala leg pulled out, it is not the full Messi package but there are chances that his India tour can still excite fans in other locations.
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