Benin manager Gernot Rohr says his team were denied access, photographs and shirts after facing Argentina in Buenos Aires on Tuesday, in a match that made the Guepards Lionel Messi’s final opponents for the national side.
The visit attracted widespread media attention, but the Benin delegation was left frustrated by the restrictions imposed behind the scenes.
Players were not given Argentina shirts, selfies were not permitted and access to the tunnel was refused. An image of Messi declining a selfie request from a Benin player prompted debate on social media.
Rohr said the treatment of the African side was the main disappointment surrounding the occasion.
“The only negative was that the Argentines gave us nothing,” said Rohr, the former Super Eagles manager. “Not a photo of Messi, not a shirt. They did not even let us into the tunnel; security refused everyone.”
Questions had already been raised about the organisation of the match, including the absence of financial benefits for the Benin delegation and the conditions of the team’s journey.