Messi's Kerala match row | 'Argentina cheated us': Sponsor threatens AFA with legal measures

Reporter Broadcasting Company, the Kerala government’s commercial partner for bringing the World Cup-winning Argentina football team and star player Lionel Messi to Kerala for a friendly match, has now accused the Argentine Football Association (AFA) of cheating after allegedly collecting ₹130 crore from them.

Anto Augustine, the Managing Director of Reporter, claimed that the AFA had initially confirmed October 2025 as the available window for the match. He said that Reporter fulfilled all obligations under that agreement and transferred the money accordingly. According to Augustine, the AFA later failed to honour the agreement and instead sent an email seeking Reporter’s opinion on shifting the match to September 2026.

“As far as we are concerned, the agreement we signed with the AFA is for the October–November 2025 window. The payment we made was for that specific agreement. The deal was signed with the 2022 World Cup-winning team—the same squad that played in Qatar, including Messi and four other key players. That was the basis of the agreement: to bring that very team to Kerala in 2025,” Augustine said.

He added that after the 2026 World Cup, it would be uncertain whether the same players would still be part of the team—or whether they would even place in the top ranks.
“So bringing them after the 2026 World Cup presents practical issues. That's why we made it clear that we are only interested in proceeding based on the agreement already signed.”

Interestingly, on August 4, Kerala’s Sports Minister V. Abdurahiman had announced that Argentina and Messi’s visit to Kerala would not take place. The minister stated that if the AFA had agreed to come in October 2025, they should stick to that schedule, especially since 2026 is an election year in Kerala.

In the past, the minister had repeatedly asserted that Argentina’s national team and Messi would arrive in Kerala in October. A ministerial delegation had even travelled to Spain to formally invite the team. In November 2024, the minister announced that the friendlies would be jointly organised by the Kerala Gold and Silver Merchants’ Association and the business community, with the state government retaining full control over the event.

However, the original sponsors reportedly withdrew due to delays in securing approvals from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It was in this context that Reporter Broadcasting Company came on board as the new sponsor. In March, the minister had even informed the Kerala Legislative Assembly that all required approvals from both the RBI and the Union Sports Ministry had been obtained.

According to Anto, the agreement specified that the Argentina team would stay in India for seven days, play matches, and conduct a fan meeting. One of the matches was to be held at the Sports Hub Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, which is currently managed by the Kerala Cricket Association for cricket matches. For the football match to take place there, the cricket turf would have to be modified.
Anto also claimed they were planning to host one of the largest football fan meets ever, with a target attendance of 1 crore people.

“According to our agreement, we are bringing the 2022 FIFA World Cup-winning team, not just any team. Now there’s a narrative being spread—‘Messi will come to Delhi, Mumbai, Bengal, but not Kerala.’ That’s misleading. If Messi isn’t coming to Kerala, then he’s not coming to India at all—not to Bengal, Delhi, or Mumbai,” said Anto.

He added that Reporter Broadcasting Company has not received any official communication from the AFA confirming that they will not come to Kerala this year.
“We’ve invested so much money and effort because of Kerala’s passionate fans. If they don’t come, we will explore all legal options to recover our money,” he said.