Buenos Aires is preparing to say farewell to Lionel Messi at the Monumental, but the final Argentina appearance of the former Ligue 1 star has been overshadowed by a furious dispute over ticket resale prices.
Messi farewell match caught in ticket storm
Argentina are due to face Benin in an exhibition match during the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, with kick-off scheduled for 1am French time. Supporters of the Albiceleste hope to give Messi a final tribute at the Monumental in Buenos Aires, where demand for seats has become intense.
That demand has brought accusations involving both the allocation of tickets and the prices being asked on the secondary market. Critics have questioned how many seats were reportedly made available to influencers and entertainment figures before reaching ordinary supporters.
- The cheapest official entry tickets were priced at around $90,000.
- Resale offers reportedly began at $600,000, or roughly €534,000.
- Some seats were advertised at up to $1,550,000, approximately €1.38 million, depending on the stand and location.
- General-admission tickets were estimated to be changing hands at about 567% above their official price.
Influencer faces criticism over advertised seats
Martin Martinez, the 32-year-old content creator known as “Chapu”, became one of the central figures in the controversy after promoting tickets through an Instagram story sent to his audience of more than one million followers.
In the video, he invited interested buyers to contact him privately for places at what he described as the goodbye of “the greatest of all time”, Lionel Andrés Messi. He later circulated a WhatsApp price list setting out the amounts requested for tickets.
Martinez says he made a limited margin
After facing strong criticism over the advertised figures, Martinez posted another video to defend himself. He said he had bought the tickets from a reseller before selling them on, claiming his own profit was around 20,000 pesos per ticket, slightly below €1,000.
The scale of the prices nevertheless deepened the anger around a match intended to be a celebration of Messi’s Argentina career.
AFA warns of illegal resale and possible fake tickets
The Argentine Football Association has warned supporters that the market surrounding the Benin match may also carry the risk of scams and counterfeit tickets.
- The AFA said ticket resale is punishable under Argentine law.
- It also stated that resale breaches the federation’s code of ethics.
- Fans seeking a place at the Monumental have been warned that unofficial offers may not be valid for entry.
For Argentina’s supporters, the final night for their captain is meant to belong to Messi. Instead, in the days before the match, the scramble for a seat has become the dominant story.
