Morocco may have been given a huge boost after Lionel Messi was ruled out of their friendly with Argentina tomorrow but officials within their football federation are not happy.
After an extended break following on from a stressful and underwhelming World Cup campaign, Messi made his Albiceleste return on Friday in a disappointing 3-1 defeat to Venezuela at Atletico Madrid’s Wanda Metropolitano stadium.
Barcelona issued the following brief statement on their official website: “Whilst he would feature from start to finish, a problem with his pubis means that Messi will not play in the second friendly of the international break.”
But as per SPORT, Moroccan chiefs are fuming over the fact that the five-time Ballon d’Or will not be taking to the field at the Stade Ibn Batouta in Tangier. No Messi, no party.
They asked for an explanation from those high up in Argentina because the idea was that they would field their best XI.
News of the Moroccan FA’s discontent comes after reports that several bizarre clauses regarding Messi were included in the friendly match.
According to Al Akhbar (via Le360 Sport), a FRMF source said that one of the clauses includes photographs not to be taken of the Argentina captain after the match – with not even the Moroccan players allowed to take selfies with him.
It was also said that that Messi would not be talking to the media before or after the match, but the most ridiculous ‘rule’ comprised of Morocco players allegedly not being able to be aggressive towards the 31-year old Barcelona star on the pitch.
Now all of that is out of the window following Messi’s absence but maybe they will just transfer the clauses onto Tottenham defender Juan Foyth instead.
