Messi refused to play… read on to know why

Argentina has cancelled their final World Cup warm-up match against Israel, striker Gonzalo Higuain said on Tuesday, as political pressure grew ahead of Saturday’s scheduled fixture in Jerusalem.

“They’ve finally done the right thing,” Higuain said in an interview with ESPN, confirming reports the game had been cancelled.

The match at Jerusalem’s Teddy Kollek Stadium was to be Argentina’s last before they kick off their World Cup campaign in Russia on June 16.

There was no initial reaction from the Israeli FA or from Israeli politicians. Reports said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had called Argentinian President Mauricio Macri to ask him to persuade the team not to cancel their visit.

Israel Radio quoted an unnamed diplomatic official who said the chances of salvaging the fixture were very slim. The visit of twice world champions Argentina has attracted huge interest among Israeli fans, mainly because of Barcelona great Lionel Messi’s planned participation.

Palestinians celebrated the cancellation. In Gaza, people cheered and in Ramallah in the West Bank, the Palestinian FA issued a statement thanking Messi and his colleagues for cancelling the game.

“The Palestinian FA thanks Argentina’s players led by star Messi for refusing to be used to serve a non-sporting goal,” Rajoub called a news conference for Wednesday in Ramallah, which he will hold outside the Argentinian representative’s office.