Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 9 (IANS) The Congress party in Kerala has launched a blistering attack on the state government after the Argentine Football Association (AFA) accused it of breaching a contract to bring football icon Lionel Messi and the Argentina national team to the state.

AFA’s Head of Marketing, Leandro Peterson, claimed the deal collapsed because the Kerala government failed to meet its contractual obligations — directly contradicting Sports Minister V. Abdurahiman and the event sponsor, who had earlier blamed AFA for the breakdown.

“Messi is missing,” quipped KPCC president Sunny Joseph, demanding that the Sports Minister offer a clear explanation.

Party MP Shafi Parambil said the government’s much-hyped social media campaign, ‘Messi is coming to Kerala’, had spectacularly backfired. “If public funds were spent, the government must either explain or return the money to the treasury,” he said.

Congress MLA Rahul Mamkootathil accused the CPI(M) of politicising Messi’s name, calling him the party’s “star campaigner” and alleging the invite was never sincere.

“This issue only surfaces during election season. Congress has its star campaigners, but the CPI(M) suffers from a poverty of leadership — Messi is their star,” he remarked.

The row deepened after revelations that the government spent Rs 13 lakh on Minister Abdurahiman’s trip to Spain in September 2024, reportedly to invite Messi — contradicting his earlier assurance that the plan would not cost the state “even a single rupee.”

The Sports Department Secretary and the Director of Sports and Youth Affairs also accompanied the Minister during his trip to Spain.

On Saturday, the Minister confirmed that Messi and the Argentine team would not be coming, citing scheduling conflicts in October-November.

He reiterated that the Kerala government had no role in the contract, which he said was strictly between the sponsor and AFA.

“We did everything possible within our timeframe, but AFA could not make it happen,” he maintained.

With the opposition sharpening its attack, the fiasco has turned into a political embarrassment for the Pinarayi Vijayan-led state government.

–IANS

sg/skp