The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) government in Kerala on Tuesday (August 11, 2026) appeared poised to order an anti-corruption investigation into the previous Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s “bungled attempt” to bring the 2021 FIFA World Cup-winning Argentina team and its iconic captain, Lionel Messi, for a ‘friendly exhibition’ match at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi in 2025.

State Sports and Youth Affairs Minister O.J. Janeesh told reporters in New Delhi that he had submitted the supposedly “damning” inquiry report (vetted by Sports Department Special Secretary N. Prasanth) to Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan for further action. Mr Janeesh said the internal report detailed “a series of grave violations.”

According to government officials, the report raised several regulatory red flags that warrant exhaustive Central and State investigations, possibly conducted in parallel.

Charges

The charges, they said, reportedly included massive service tax fraud on foreign remittances, contraventions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), abuse of power resulting in loss to the public exchequer, and “shady financial transactions” involving offshore entities, among other charges that could potentially trigger the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau (VACB) and GST department probes.

According to government officials, Mr Prasanth’s inquiry centred on former Kerala Sports Minister V. Abdurahiman’s big-ticket announcement in 2023 that the Kerala government had partnered with a private sponsor, a television news broadcasting company, to host the Argentine football team led by Messi at “no cost to the public exchequer” in 2025 ahead of the 2026 Assembly elections.

Mr Abdurahiman also led a high-profile delegation to Spain, reportedly costing the public exchequer an estimated ₹14 crore, to meet Argentine Football Association (AFA) office-bearers, ratcheting up expectations among football lovers in the State.

The private sponsor further heightened feverish public anticipation by claiming that he had transferred ₹126 crore to the AFA’s account in advance of the visit.

However, neither Messi nor the Argentine team showed up in Kerala in 2025, pivoting the public enthusiasm for the World Cup-winning squad and Messi into outrage and anger against the LDF government.

The ensuing public fury caused Mr Abdurahiman, the event’s sponsor and the then-ruling dispensation to seek political cover by alleging that AFA had broken faith with the State’s football lovers by “unilaterally and inexplicably” withdrawing from the ₹250-crore contractual agreement struck by the parties, including the LDF government, in Spain.

Messi’s “no show” in Kochi also ignited a fierce political backlash, with the UDF, then in the Opposition, accusing the then LDF government of hoodwinking football lovers.

Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) social media handles launched a viral “Missing Messi” campaign, mocking the previous LDF government’s “fumbled attempt to slyly use the iconic footballer as the LDF’s political surrogate at the hustings to win over the young demographic in the run-up to the 2026 Assembly polls.”

According to government officials, the report doubted the private sponsor’s claim that the entity had channelled ₹126 crores to AFA through a US-based intermediary “under investigation”, citing a lack of documentary and banking evidence.

They said the report also flagged the absence of a legally binding contract or legitimate tripartite agreement between AFA, the Kerala government, and the private sponsor.

Published - August 11, 2026 02:13 pm IST