Messi & co in Dhaka in June

World Champions Argentina, including their mercurial skipper Lionel Messi, have agreed in principle to arrive in Bangladesh in June to play a friendly, Bangladesh Football Federation General Secretary Abu Nayem Shohag confirmed to The Business Post.

He said that some terms and conditions are left to be sorted regarding the matter and that they will reveal the details in full after a complete agreement has been reached with the Argentina Football Association.

BFF informed on Tuesday that a press briefing would be held today where they will speak about details on whether Argentina will be coming to Bangladesh. A BFF official said they hoped to complete the details by Tuesday to provide confirmation today.

Argentina beat France 4-2 in penalties to win their third World Cup title in December. During the tournament, the support for Argentina in Bangladesh made waves across the world, with Argentina head coach Lionel Scaloni thanking the Bangladesh fans in an official press conference.

Argentina previously played in Bangladesh in 2011, where they beat Nigeria 3-1, with the likes of Messi, Angel Di Maria, Gonzalo Higuain, Nicolas Otamendi, and Javier Mascherano playing.

The opponent for this time’s clash is yet to be confirmed. According to a BFF official, the opponents could be Japan or Morocco,
but it is not finalised yet.

A bigger concern is where the match would be played as the home ground of the Bangladesh national team, the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, is currently under renovation, which is being overseen by the National Sports Council.

Md. Shamsul Alam, Director of Planning & Development at the National Sports Council, told The Business Post that they have received a request to complete renovations by March 2023.

“We have not received any new information (regarding Argentina playing in Bangladesh). But we have been asked to complete the works of the Bangabandhu National Stadium by March,” he told The Business Post.