It’s official, Messi's Argentina and Australia confirm Kerala is not in their plans
Lionel Messi and his World Cup-winning Argentina are not coming to Kerala in November, contrary to what was repeatedly declared by the state's Sports Minister V Abdurahiman.The Argentine Football Association (AFA) have confirmed their plans for next month, which do not feature a visit to Kerala."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," said AFA in a statement issued on Saturday."After the match, the delegation will return to the old continent (South America) to continue their training until November 18th, the day the FIFA World Cup concludes," AFA added.In a Facebook post in Malayalam, sponsor Anto Augustine said that the proposed match in November in Kerala has been postponed to a later date. "Due to the delay in getting approval from FIFA, a decision to postpone the match scheduled in the November window was taken during a meeting with an AFA official. The match in Kerala will be played in the next window. The announcement (will be made) soon," he wrote.Meanwhile, Australia, which was announced as Argentina's opponents by the Kerala government, have also made it clear that their plans for November do not include an Indian city."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," FA said in a statement on Saturday.Australia will play Venezuela in Texas on November 14 and travel to Queens, New York, to take on Colombia on November 18.The state and a private broadcasting company it had partnered with for the proposed Messi visit had claimed that Messi and the team would play at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium at Kaloor in Kochi on November 17 and attend fan meetings and take part in an open-bus parade on the day preceding the friendly.
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