Argentina's friendly match against Burkina Faso in Buenos Aires on Saturday, Oct. 3, may not be played, with the African team still stuck in Morocco because of flight difficulties with less than 30 hours to go before the match is scheduled to kick off.
Burkina Faso played a pair of African Cup of Nations qualification matches in late September, most recently beating the Central African Republic 1-0 on Sept. 28 in Casablanca. The team was scheduled to fly out Sept. 30 on a charter flight from Morocco to Argentina for the contest in the Estadio Monumental, but that trip was canceled, according to a Friday, Oct. 2 statement from the Burkinabe federation.
"Since the incident took place, the ministry in charge of sports, the federation, and the embassy
have been working to find, as quickly as possible, a solution that allows the delegation to continue its trip to Buenos Aires," the statement continued. "Several different options have been explored to reorganize a new departure, but constraints, particularly due to the travel time, have raised concerns among the players."
According to Sport News Africa, the Burkina Faso players also have boycotted attempted training sessions in Morocco given their frustration with the situation.
The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has decided that Burkina Faso must arrive at 1 p.m. local time Saturday for the game to go ahead with its scheduled start time of 9 p.m. local, according to TNT Sports.
What will Argentina do if Burkina Faso can't arrive for the friendly match?
Proposed options include the match being postponed until later, an Argentine club standing in for Burkina Faso or an outright cancelation – though the Sport News Africa report indicates this is the least desirable option for the AFA as they retain all match fees for this type of friendly match, similar to the ones played in March when Argentina hosted Mauritania and Zambia.
Argentina is set to honor Lionel Messi in an Oct. 6 friendly match against Benin, with the legendary attacker announcing his international retirement after the 2026 World Cup.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Flight difficulties from Africa put Argentina-Burkina Faso match at risk
