The arrival of Lionel Messi to Inter Miami has brought with it a storm of positive news for Major League Soccer, Inter Miami, and South Florida for that matter. Having the greatest soccer player of all time in Miami can only lift the image of the sport in the United States as well as lift the image of Argentina as a soccer country and nation.
For AFA, the Argentine Football Federation, they have been seriously looking at the United States for some time now and came to the conclusion that it was time to place a base of operations in the United States.
One of the primary reasons for this complex is to be able to capture dual nationals such as Inter Miami’s own Benjamin Cremaschi or NYCFC’s own Maximo Carrizo, who is considered one of the best young prospects in all of the Americas. Here is a rundown as to why AFA picked Miami as their hub of the Americas.
Why Florida?
With the growth of soccer in the United States over the past decades and the massive movement of youth soccer, AFA is looking to create an institution that can provide values in the teaching of playing soccer the Argentine way. From the discipline it takes to win matches to the training of the top soccer players from all over the world.
Florida has a huge Argentine community, and the possibility of dual nationals provides AFA the chance to also not lose potential talents of the Argentine national team.
Who can participate in AFA’s new Florida complex?
The complex will be open to boys and girls, and it will follow the guidelines of the best practices of the Argentine youth soccer teams and put forth AFA’s main values.
While focused on soccer, the complex will also have educational and other recreational programs. The complex will also have a museum, conference rooms, coaching center, training center, as well as a housing estate.
Main objectives of the AFA complex
• Teach the practice of soccer in physical, technical, and tactical terms.
• Develop the appropriate infrastructure.
• Create alliance mechanisms with universities in the United States.
• Take courses as a manager, physical trainer, analysis, nutrition, marketing, training, etc.
• Generate interaction between attendees and personalities of the Argentine National Team, both current and past.
• Promote international exchanges, national team competitions and high-impact pre-seasons.
Where will the AFA complex be located?
AFA plans to have two complexes, one located in North Bay Miami and one in Hialeah Miami.
The North Bay complex will have a soccer field and Tennis courts, while Hialeah will have Soccer, Tennis, Paddle, Basketball, and other buildings on the complex.
Commercial Opportunities and amenities
Once the complex is constructed, then there will be commercial opportunities that will present themselves. The AFA complex will include the chance to have sponsors or business to:
• Naming of the property.
• Thematic restaurant.
• Boutique / store next to Adidas.
• Museum / exhibition.
• High Performance Center.
• Sports Tourism.
• AFA Educational Center.
• Sports events / conferences (Auditorium).
• Soccer clinics with former national team soccer players.
• Court rental (11/5/7).
AFA Social Media presence in the United States
In March of 2023, the Argentine Federation launched their all-English social media pages, in Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, and Instagram. Today the TikTok account has almost 320,000 followers, Facebook has 25,000 followers, Instagram has 184,000, and Twitter 15,000 all coinciding with AFA’s plan to have a strong presence in the United States which will soon see Lionel Messi play week in and week out in MLS, the 2024 Copa America, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The social media pages are: Tik Tok, Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
