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KERALA’S CONGRESS LED UDF government is now looking at possible anti-corruption action after a fresh inquiry report exposed serious problems in the earlier LDF government's plan to bring football star Lionel Messi and the Argentina team to the state. The plan, meant to bring the 2022 World Cup winners for a friendly match in Kochi, has instead turned into a controversy over missing money, weak paperwork, and unclear decision-making. Kerala's Sports Special Secretary N Prashanth has flagged serious procedural, financial and administrative irregularities in the previous government's efforts to host the match at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi.

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Huge Amount of Capital Missing, The Amount Was Part of The Messi Plan To India

The much-hyped plan to bring Messi and the Argentina team to Kerala has left more questions than answers, with the Sports Department flagging financial irregularities running into crores along with several rule violations. At the center of the controversy is a large sum of money that appears to have gone nowhere. The event's sponsor, Reporter Broadcasting Company, had claimed to pay around ₹126 crore to the Argentine Football Association for the visit, but the inquiry found no proof that this money was ever sent or received.

The trail gets murkier from there. The sponsor had asked the central government, through the state, for permission to send the money abroad using a US-based agency, an agency that was itself facing investigation in the US over financial wrongdoing. Even after getting approval to transfer the funds, the sponsor never showed any proof that the transfer actually happened. As delays piled up, the earlier LDF government issued two notices to the sponsor for breaking the agreement.

The report also questions how firm the deal really was in the first place. It noted that a document from the Argentine Football Association was treated as confirmation of the event, even though it was neither a formal commitment to the Kerala government nor a legally binding promise. Despite this shaky basis, the state government wrote to the Centre claiming that Argentina's official World Cup squad would visit Kerala, even without a final AFA commitment or approval from FIFA or the AIFF.

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Chief Secretary Questioned, The Hosts Are Under Pressure

The report doesn't stop at pointing out financial gaps, it also raises questions about who was making the decisions. It said major decisions seemed to have been taken through meetings called by the then Chief Minister, the then Sports Minister, and the Chief Secretary, while some decisions were passed on through notes from the Sports Minister's private secretary. It also questioned the Chief Secretary's role, noting his responsibility to ensure the rules were followed across the secretariat.

Even as public money and attention went toward this single event, the report says other priorities were ignored. It noted that basic departmental work, including sportsperson assistance and award payments worth more than ₹11 crore, remained unpaid while efforts were focused on the private event. The inquiry further found that benefits were still given to the sponsor company based on a short two-page order signed by the then Chief Secretary in October 2025, despite the absence of any actual agreement guaranteeing Messi's or the team's visit.

Given the scale of the irregularities, the report has called for the matter to be escalated. It recommended a detailed departmental inquiry against those responsible, along with referring the files to investigating agencies to look into financial and regulatory violations. Specifically, it suggested that the Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau or a Special Vigilance Investigation Team examine the matter further. The report has been forwarded to the Chief Minister for further action.

What began as an exciting plan to bring football royalty to Kerala has turned into a political and financial headache for the state's earlier government. With crores of rupees unaccounted for, shaky paperwork, and now calls for a formal anti-corruption probe, the Messi visit saga has become less about football and more about accountability. As the UDF government weighs its next steps, the case is likely to keep drawing political attention in the weeks ahead.

(Edited by Agniva Ray)

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