Argentina vs. Nigeria again—in Bangladesh

Posted Friday, June 10, 2011 by YAHOO Sport

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP)—Argentina is playing another match against Nigeria, this time in the unusual football location of Bangladesh.

The Sept. 6 match, which was first announced last month, will be played three months after Nigeria’s 4-1 victory last week against Argentina in Abuja, which is being investigated for suspicious betting.

The match organizer, Buenos Aires-based World Eleven, said on Thursday it was possible that Lionel Messi, the world’s best player, would appear in the match. However, organizers said it was not guaranteed, adding the only contract requirement was for Argentina to arrive with 80 percent of its top players.

World Eleven spokeswoman Fernanda Nunez said every effort would be made to include Messi.

“But we are not obligated to include Messi,” she added.

Reports have suggested organizers were being paid $4 million for the match, a figure Nunez emphatically denied.

“This is an outrageous number,” she said.

Nigeria defeated Argentina in a lopsided match last week, but the South Americans played with second-team players—without Messi, Carlos Tevez and other stars.

That match is being investigated by FIFA for match-fixing after referee Ibrahim Chaibou of Niger awarded a penalty for handball in the eighth minute of second-half stoppage time. No players have been implicated.

Argentina will also play Venezuela on Sept. 2 in Kolkata, India. Both matches will be Argentina’s first following the July 1-24 Copa America in Argentina.