India turned down the opportunity to welcome Argentina for a friendly during the international window they had because of the high costs that are involved in arranging for the world champions.
This month Argentina had two friendlies between the 12th and 20th of June. They hoped to play the match in South Asia because of the huge support they got last month in Qatar for the FIFA World Cup.
Shaji Prabhakaran, secretary general of AIFF, told TOI that Argentina FA reached out for a friendly here, but to arrange such a lump sum amount on such short notice is not possible. He also added that to make this happen, India would need a strong partner to back them up, and resources are limited when the economic situation for football is concerned.
After the World Cup win, Argentina is now the most in-demand team, commanding a $4-5 million compensation. They initially planned to play one match in Bangladesh and one in India. But they are now playing in Beijing and Indonesia due to a lack of funds.
The ranking is not balanced between India and Argentina so another team would have played as the world champions. Argentina is number 1, whereas India is at 101. The head of international relations for Argentina FA in India had continuous talks with Prabhakaran and came to an arrangement over this partnership.
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