Messi and team will arrive in Kerala, main sponsors confirm news; venue decided

KOCHI: Football legend Lionel Messi and the Argentina national team will visit Kerala this October. This will mark Argentina's first visit to India in 14 years, where they will play a friendly football match. The match will take place in Kochi, as announced by the main sponsors, HSBC. However, the opponents for Argentina in the match have not yet been decided.

Earlier, Kerala Sports Minister V. Abdurahiman had confirmed that Messi and his team would arrive in Kerala on October 25. He also said that Messi would be in Kerala for seven days and would participate in a public event in addition to the scheduled friendly match. 20 minutes have been allocated for this. An agreement has been reached between the officials of the Argentina Football Association and Abdurahiman to provide fans with the opportunity to interact with Messi.

The Argentina football team, which won the World Cup in Qatar, had earlier informed the All India Football Federation (AIFF) about their willingness to play a friendly match in India. However, due to financial constraints, the AIFF had to decline the invitation. Upon learning this, Kerala Sports Minister V. Abdurahiman invited the Argentina team to Kerala and sent a letter to the Argentina Football Association. The invitation was accepted, and a reply was sent via email. In 2011, Messi and the Argentina team played a match against Venezuela at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, where Messi was the captain of the team.