The world champions Argentina national football team will not be visiting Bangladesh to play a friendly match in Dhaka in June as the venue of the match will not be ready during that time, confirmed Bangladesh Football Federation president Kazi Salahuddin on Wednesday.

‘We told them [Argentine Football Association] not to visit because the venue [Bangabandhu National Stadium] of the match will not be ready in time,’ Salahuddin told New Age.

On January 17, Salahuddin informed the media that the Lionel Messi-led Argentina national team’s visit to Bangladesh in June during the FIFA window was almost finalised.

While talking to New Age on Wednesday, the BFF boss claimed that they were working on it and sent an official letter to the ministry of youth and sports last week asking if the venue would be ready before June.

In response to BFF, the ministry replied that the BNS wouldn’t be ready until next year. As a result, the football federation cancelled the friendly.

‘Yes, it [the friendly] has been cancelled because the field is not ready….Before we were going to sign the contract [with the sponsor], we sent a letter to the ministry, asking about the venue and whether it would be ready within June,’ he said.

‘They [ministry of youth and sports] replied that it [BNS] wouldn’t be ready before next year, so we did not sign the contract.’

When asked about the possibility of Argentina’s visit to Bangladesh in the future, Salahuddin said,’ I don’t know about it… Actually, Messi was the main reason behind the match.’

‘I cannot say what will happen next. Because after this [this FIFA window], Messi might retire, so all the things are uncertain,’ he said.

When he was asked about the BFF’s repeated failure to bring different national and club teams and legendary football figures like Diego Maradona, Salahuddin avoided the issue.

Messi and Argentina, who won the FIFA World Cup title in 2022 in Qatar, visited Bangladesh last time on September 6, 2011, for a friendly against Nigeria at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

Earlier, in January 2013, the BFF boss claimed that Barcelona had approached them with a proposal that they were willing to play in Bangladesh.

If everything goes well, they may visit Bangladesh any time around August, when the club will be touring Asia.

In November 2019, the BFF stated to the media that English giants Manchester United were likely to visit Dhaka in June of the following year.

The BFF also stated that they had been working since October 2019 with the UK-based football agent RightAgent4You to hold a friendly game between Lionel Messi’s Argentina and their South American neighbour Paraguay in the November FIFA window.

None of their initiatives turned into realities.