After causing resentment in Kerala over Messi, AFA triggers a row in Argentina over Di Maria's club

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) did not make many friends in Kerala after a proposed Lionel Messi visit fell through recently. It turns out, the AFA aren't building any bridges on their home turf either as a fresh move to introduce a trophy in the domestic league has triggered a row in Argentine football.

The AFA on Thursday felicitated Rosario Central with the 'Campeon De Liga' (League Champion), a new trophy. In a statement shared on its website, the AFA said its Professional League Executive Committee meeting unanimously decided to establish the title of 'League Champion' for the team that accumulated the most points in the General Table.

Superstar forward Angel Di Maria, who returned to his boyhood club this season, received the trophy with representatives of the club.

The awarding of the trophy became a controversy after one of the clubs, Estudiantes, dropped a bomb by putting out a post intended as a communique for its fans. "...at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the Argentine Professional Football League, no vote was held regarding the recognition of the 2025 League Champion title," Estudiantes said, refuting AFA's claim of a unanimous decision.

This season, the Argentine top division was divided into two halves, the Apertura and the Clausura, with the former running from January to June and the latter from July to December. In each half, 30 participating teams were divided into two groups of 15, with single-round-robin matches played. The top eight teams from each group went into a playoff to decide a winner.

The Apertura ended with Platense emerging as the winner. The Clausura is still going on, with the playoffs set to start next week. Then, out of the blue, the AFA came with the 'League Champion' trophy, which it had not announced at the start of the season. The association chose Central for the honour as the Rosario-based side finished with the combined most points accumulated across the Apertura and Clausura regular seasons.

The AFA reportedly had a deal with a private broadcaster in Kerala, promising to bring Lionel Messi and the Argentine national team for a friendly match in Kochi in the FIFA window in November. However, the match did not take place, causing much resentment among fans in the football-crazy state.