New Delhi: Lionel Messi‘s Argentina didn’t come to play in Kerala even after receiving money for it, the state’s sports minister V Abdurahiman claimed on Thursday.
Abdurahiman said he badly wanted Argentina to come to play but was deceived after their no-show, later finding out that they have done a similar things to five other countries.
“For that, I had held several discussions. It was also not an easy task to find sponsors to arrange the Rs 250 crore to be paid to the international football team,” the minister told a TV channel, as quoted by PTI.
“But, after receiving the money, the Argentine football team cheated us. We did not expect such a betrayal from them. Not coming after promising to do so.”
“They took money from those countries, but never went there to play. It is a situation where a case will have to be filed against the Argentine football team, and they will have to pay us compensation,” Abdurahiman said.
Last November, he had announced that Argentina will come to play in March of this year but their no-show has made him sad and disappointed.
“It has disappointed the football lovers in Kerala. I don’t know to whom I will tell my disappointment,” he said.
Abdurahiman will contest in the Kerala elections that will be held on April 9.
Defending World Cup champions Argentina are drawn in Group J with Algeria, Austria and Jordan.
They defeated Zambia 5-0 in a friendly recently with Messi being one the scorers.
The match, playd in Buenos Aires’ La Bombonera stadium, is expected to be Messi’s final match for his country on home soil.