BERLIN, Sept 3 — Matches in all men’s and women’s competitions in Argentina will be stopped after 10 minutes of play to honour the nation’s football great Lionel Messi, who announced on Monday he has retired from the national team, reported German Press Agency (dpa).

Claudio Tapia, the president of the Argentinian Football Association (AFA) said that they want to “pay tribute and honour Lionel Messi’s career with Argentina with a minute of applause” on the next matchday.

The games will be paused after 10 minutes of play because Messi wore the number 10 for the national team.

In addition, a promotional video is to be shown in stadiums equipped with screens before the start of the games, AFA said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

Messi had a glistering club career and in 2022 he crowned his tenure at the national team with the World Cup title. He tried to add a second world title to his name this year, but Argentina were defeated by Spain in the final.