India had the chance to host Lionel Messi's Argentina but not enough funds

Argentina were keen to play a friendly match in India, but the AIFF had trouble arranging he required funds

Due to the high cost of hosting the team, India declined the opportunity to host Argentina, the world champions, for a friendly match this month, The Times of India reported on Tuesday.

Given the huge support Argentina garnered during the FIFA World Cup in Qatar last month, Argentina were keen to play their games in South Asia as they had slots for two friendlies this month between June 12 and June 20. The Argentina FA was represented by its head of international relations, Pablo Joaquin Diaz, in talks with AIFF. 

On Monday, AIFF secretary general Shaji Prabhakaran told TOI that the Argentina FA had reached out to them about a friendly match but that arranging such a large sum of money was not possible.

 

"For such a match to happen here, we need the backing of a strong partner. The kind of money that Argentina command as an appearance fee is huge, and we have limitations in terms of our economic situation in football," the TOI report quoted Prabhakaran.

After winning the World Cup, the Argentine national football team has become the most in-demand team in the world, with a fee of $4-5 million (approximately Rs 32-40 crore). Argentina's initial plan to play two friendlies in South Asia, one in India and one in Bangladesh, was thwarted when neither country could raise the necessary funds at short notice. As a result, the world champions will now play Australia in Beijing on June 15 and Indonesia in Jakarta on June 19. The world champions are understood to have declined the opportunity to play friendlies in the United States during this window, as they are now looking to capitalise on their global appeal by playing in different countries worldwide.

AIFF would have had to arrange another team to play the world champions, given the gulf in rankings between Argentina and India. Argentina are ranked world no one while India are placed a hundred places below at 101.

Prabhakaran said if India had played Argentina, there would have been too much of a mismatch. Diaz has kept up discussions with Prabhakaran, and the two countries could eventually reach an agreement on a partnership. Prabhakaran said that India is interested in having a partnership with the Argentine Football Association (AFA). He also said that there is a lot of interest from Argentina, including from their clubs.

In 2011, Argentina played in India when Messi captained the team to a win over Venezuela at the Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata in front of 85,000 fans.