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According to the Kerala Sports Minister, V Abdurahiman, a high-level delegation from the state held a discussion with Argentina Football Association (AFA) officials in Spain about potentially hosting the Argentinian national football team for an exhibition match in Kerala. The official statement about the recent development from the Sports Minister’s office had information about the fruitful talks between Kerala government and the AFA officials in regard to sending Argentina national football team on a visit to the Indian state.
Notably, in January of this year, the officials from Kerala Sports Ministry and the AFA had a virtual meeting, where the Argentinians were quite willing to send their football team to play in Kerala. The initial invitation from Kerala Sports Ministry to the AFA about holding an exhibition match for Argentina national football team, involving their talisman Lionel Messi, was sent last year.
We have held excellent discussions on how an exhibition match of the Argentina team could be held in Kerala: V Abdurahiman
In the official statement from V Abdurahiman, the Sports Minister of Kerala, the AFA were happy about the love shown by Kerala fans towards the Argentina national football team over the years during their discussion in Spain. He was quoted as saying, as per Latestly, “The discussions took place in Madrid and the first reaction was the happiness that they expressed to the love the Kerala fans always show towards the Argentinian football team. We have held excellent discussions on how an exhibition match of the Argentina team could be held in Kerala and as a follow-up on our discussion, a delegation of the AFA will be visiting Kerala shortly.”
V Abdurahiman remarked that the AFA were also looking forward to investing in the Kerala football scene by setting up football academies with the help of the state government. He said, “The AFA also expressed hopes of setting up football academies in Kerala with the help of the state government. As and when this happens, it will be a huge boost for our state.”
Apart from the discussions with AFA, the Kerala Sports Ministry officials also held talks with the Spanish officials about how to improve the job opportunities in the sports sector. “With the Spain sporting officials also our talks centred around how there can be a meaningful association with the Kerala Sports Council. Our aim is to turn our sporting centres into a place of excellence and for that, we need to get the support of the best. We also want to improve the job opportunities in the sports sector and discussions were also held for that,” said V Abdurahiman.
