Lionel Messi is all set for his second visit to India as Kerala sports minister V Abdurahiman on Monday maintained there was no doubt about the Argentina captain’s planned visit, dismissing social media speculation.
He said the Argentine football star and his team are expected to play a match in the state in October or November this year.
Dismissing ongoing speculations, the minister asserted that there should be “no room for doubt” regarding Messi’s visit.
Abdurahiman termed the current debates surrounding the proposed event as “unnecessary discussions” and urged the public not to give rise to controversies. “There is no room for any doubt. Social media is full of unnecessary controversies. The visit of a legend like Messi is a matter of pride for us. He and his team will visit here–either in October or in November,” the minister told reporters, reacting to a query.
On Saturday, Abdurahiman turned down the media reports about the “backtracking” of the Argentina national football team from visiting the state and asserted that the Lionel Messi-led team would play a friendly match here in October this year.
The 2022 World Cup winners would reach the state as announced by the government, with the sponsor, Reporter Broadcasting Company, paying the sponsorship amount as per its contract with the Argentina Football Association (AFA), he had said.
Anto Augustine, Managing Director of Reporter Broadcasting Company, had also said all things mandated by the AFA in the contract have been fulfilled, and it is expected that an announcement about the date of the match will be made soon.
Talking about Messi, the legendary footballer is currently playing for Inter Miami in the USA towards the end of his career. While he continues to feature for Inter Miami in Major League Soccer as well as other competitions, the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was included in Argentina’s preliminary squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Colombia in June.