The organiser of the Argentina v Burkina Faso match reveals the catastrophic behind-the-scenes details

The atmosphere surrounding the match witnessed considerable chaos.

Burkina Faso's national team endured a journey full of logistical complications just to play their friendly against Argentina at the "Monumental" stadium. Jairo Pachón, the FIFA-licensed match agent who organised the fixture, has broken his silence on the reasons behind the African side's improvised arrival in Buenos Aires.

The troubles began on 30 September. A technical fault forced the cancellation of the delegation's flight in Casablanca, Morocco.

Pachón, chief executive of the company "Eurodata Sport", explained in a statement published by the Argentine federation that the airline reported the fault while the delegation stood ready to board, citing force majeure as the reason for grounding the flight.

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First-team stars withdraw

The lengthy wait for a replacement plane to Argentina sparked real anger among Burkina Faso's first-team players. Several told the delegation they refused to travel, citing "exhaustion and accumulated fatigue", unwilling to cross the Atlantic and then play a match with almost no rest.

Government representatives and the Burkinabé Football Federation held meetings to talk the stars round. The players would not budge. That left one option: build a new squad almost from scratch, mostly from the under-23 national team.

Reshaping the squad meant rushing the newly called-up players from Burkina Faso to Morocco, where they boarded the plane bound for Argentina after days of uncertainty.

The Argentine federation and government then had to issue visas for the new delegation in record time, something Pachón rated among the biggest challenges of the lot. "In 18 years of working with national teams, I have faced many adverse situations", he said, as reported by the Spanish network COPE.

A fleeting stay in Argentina

After that gruelling trip, the players took to the pitch a little over five hours after their plane touched down, following a flight of nearly 12 hours.

Argentina ran out 7-0 winners. As if that were not enough, the delegation was then set to fly back to Africa on Sunday afternoon GMT.