Brazil’s glamour friendly international against Argentina, scheduled for Melbourne next month, has been cancelled.
The June 11 match at the MCG had been planned as part of Brazil’s preparations for the World Cup later this year, but the event organisers and Brazilian federation have announced the game is off because South American champions Argentina won’t travel.
“Regrettably, event organisers have been informed by Pitch, the Superclasico June 11 2022 match agent, that contrary to their prior agreement and commitment to do so, Argentina are no longer prepared to travel to Australia for the match against Brazil,” organisers said in a statement.
The last time the South American giants played a ‘Superclasico’ at the MCG five years ago, more than 95,000 fans turned out to watch Argentinian legend Lionel Messi take a bow.
The Brazilian federation CBF confirmed the news of the cancellation at a press conference on Wednesday morning, saying the decision had been down to the Argentine federation.
The Argentine federation has made no comment on the issue.
The cancellation follows a ruling by FIFA on Monday that the two teams would still have to play their qualifying tie which was suspended in September shortly after kickoff and never completed because officials complained of Argentina players violating COVID-19 protocols.
FIFA wants the game played this September, a couple of months before the World Cup finals start in Qatar, but both teams, who qualified automatically at the top of their South American group, haven’t committed to playing it.
Juninho Paulista, co-ordinator of the Brazilian team, said at the news conference: “A statement came from the AFA (the Argentine federation), officially, and they informed us of this decision.
“We were prepared and with all the logistics ready for this game because we understood that we had to fulfil the contract”, he added.
Organisers now says they are “working with the key stakeholders connected with the match to review all options for the fixture and will provide further updates as quickly as possible.”
Ticket holders would be eligible for refunds with details of the process to be provided shortly, the organisers added.
Mark
Guest
I should perhaps have been more specific. The match was always likely to sell a bunch of tickets (although whether that translates to commercial success depends on how full the organizers needed the stadium to be to break even). But everything to do with the actual football was always going to be a flop. Messi, Neymar etc were never coming. The players treat these matches like a Sunday kickabout. And the atmosphere at the ground would be totally sterile. The most incredible thing I’ve found from attending matches like this in the past is how so many people can create such little atmosphere.
Brainstrust
Roar Rookie
They already sold 60000 tickets at astronomical prices how is that a flop? If the AFA signed contracts then they would be locked in , so what if Argentina fielded a B side. Since its a Brazil home match they made the mistake of paying off Brazil but not paying off Argentina. Its an embarassment that the capital of cash for sporting events has less appeal than its Middle East chequebook counterparts in Doha and Dubai.
Mark
Guest
It was as predictable as night following day that this game would flop. I didn’t expect it would be cancelled, but in hindsight I’m not surprised. My guess is the AFA signed the contracts without consulting the players at all, then when it came to selection the players told the AFA they had no intention of going.