Kerala chief minister VD Satheesan on Thursday claimed that serious allegations including GST fraud and lapses in selection of the private sponsor were reported in the previous LDF government’s efforts to bring Lionel Messi-led Argentina national team to play a friendly match in the state.
Investigation into Failed Friendly Match with Argentina
The chief minister announced that a preliminary inquiry report from the sports department is currently under review, prompting further investigations into the matter.
In 2023, former sports minister V Abdurahiman revealed plans for the State government to collaborate with a firm to host a friendly match featuring the Messi-led Argentine national team at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi, at no cost to taxpayers. Abdurahiman even traveled to Spain to engage with officials from the Argentina Football Association (AFA), claiming that the AFA had agreed to send a delegation, including Messi, to Kerala. However, the anticipated event did not take place.
“What was the procedure adopted in selecting a private firm to sponsor the event? Was there an Expression of Interest? A firm was picked, but parameters including its source of funding and financial capability were not considered. Did the previous government know about this? “Prima facie, GST fraud has taken place. There are some serious allegations. It happened during the tenure of the previous government and even a notice was served (to the private sponsor). If there is a need for central agency probes, we will refer it to them. Have the State’s interests been protected? Did the private firm take advantage of the situation? Everything will be examined. Satheesan also rejected allegations made by a top official of a private firm which runs a 24×7 news channel that the state government was targeting the company. “The inquiry report has just been submitted to me.
There are already a lot of contradictory statements coming out,” the CM said at a press briefing in Thiruvananthapuram. But it seems the inquiry was frozen,” he said. On whether central agencies will be invited to probe aspects of possible money laundering, the CM said, “Let the state government examine it first. I have not taken any action on it,” he said.
The inquiry report has pointed to several violations in the way the event was planned, including the absence of any formal agreement between AFA, the Kerala government and the private sponsor, all formal communications being restricted to the sports minister’s office, service tax fraud on foreign remittances and the lack of a transparent tender process before the sponsor was finalised.
