NO MESSI, NO MONEY: ASIA'S ULTIMATUM TO ARGENTINA

The Argentina National Team, located at the summit of world football, slowly started to lose its commercial and economic power off the pitch. Lionel Messi not taking part in the national team squad brought along great crises for the Argentine Football Association. The federation management under the leadership of Chiqui Tapia had been demanding 100 percent of the gate receipts and all commercial rights from the host countries in order to organize friendly matches for many years. However, the absence of the legendary star on the green pitches completely changed the attitude of Asian organizers. Countries possessing massive economic markets such as China, Saudi Arabia and India strictly refused to play a friendly match with the South American team during the November FIFA window. Asian supporters and sponsors are no longer willing to pay millions of dollars, knowing very well that giant stadiums will not fill up in the absence of the world star. The fact that the era of making money just from the naming rights has closed came down almost like a sledgehammer on the summit of Argentine football. It clearly emerged that the federation is not as strong at the bargaining table as it used to be and world giants gave up on investing just in the brand value. While football fans definitely want to watch the biggest stars to fill the stadiums, organizers also do not want to pay astronomical prices for matches to be played in front of empty stands. The drop in sponsorship contracts and cancellations in commercial agreements show that the federation must completely change its strategy for future friendly matches. This great financial tremor experienced proved once again to the entire sports world how critical the contribution of individual talents to brand value is in modern football. How Argentina will compensate for the economic losses in the upcoming period has already become a matter of great curiosity. The South American representative understood with a very bitter experience that it can no longer convince organizers just with its past successes or the jersey it has without the stars. The development of new sponsorship models now seems inevitable.

GÖRSEL: YAHOO SPORTS