Angolan civil society groups on Tuesday urged the Argentine Football Association and star player Lionel Messi to cancel plans for a friendly in Luanda after 30 people were killed during recent protests.
Both football bodies have been negotiating a date for the fixture in November, as part of events marking Angola’s 50 years of independence.
In an open letter to the Argentine Football Association, the national team, and the Lionel Messi Foundation, four organisations — including Catholic, legal, and pro-democracy groups — accused Angolan authorities of “systematic repression”.
They argued that refusing to play “would be a noble gesture of international solidarity and respect for human rights”.
Protests in late July against fuel-price hikes turned violent when shops were looted, prompting security forces to fire live bullets. At least 30 people died, more than 270 were injured, and around 1,515 arrested, in what has been described as Angola’s worst unrest in decades.
The groups also condemned the government for spending public resources on large sporting events while “thousands of children and adults face chronic hunger, severe anaemia, and widespread food insecurity”.
According to a 2025 UN Food and Agriculture Organization report, 22.5 per cent of Angolans are undernourished. The letter further claimed that business opportunities in the country benefit only a privileged few linked to the ruling MPLA, in power since independence from Portugal in 1975.