The Argentinian Football Association insist they expect Barcelona forward Lionel Messi to be available for the Olympics.

Barcelona are keen to prevent the 21-year-old from playing in the Beijing Games, as the timing clashes with the dates of the Champions League preliminary round.

Messi has said he wants to represent his country, while FIFA have reiterated that their rules stipulate players under the age of 23 must be released by their clubs for the Olympics.

But the forward was part of the Barca squad which arrived in Scotland on Monday ahead of friendly games against Hibernian and Dundee United.

The Argentinian FA (AFA) insist, though, they expect to see Messi at the Games and at a pre-tournament friendly set to be played in Japan.

AFA spokesman Ernesto Cherquis Bialo said: "Messi is on the list of players who were called up to play. The first match is on the 29th in Tokyo.

"All the players but Federico Fazio (Mallorca), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Lautaro Acosta (Sevilla) and Messi are flying from Buenos Aires to Japan tonight (Monday). The other four are going from the countries where their teams are training.

"Whether Messi is finally coming with us or not, this is a problem that must be solved between Messi and Barcelona. The AFA only used the FIFA decision to name Messi.

"FIFA confirmed players under the age of 23 can be named by the national team and cannot be denied by clubs. We cannot do anything else.

"We are waiting for Messi in Japan. If he doesn't come, it's only because Messi and Barcelona decided not to.

"FIFA only set three conditions for an under-23 player to play the Olympic Games - he has to be called, he has to accept the nomination and he should not be ill or injured."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and FIFA have threatened to ban Messi from playing football for the duration of the Games, should the Catalan club fail to release him.

When it was asked whether the AFA had received any official statement from Barcelona asking for the player not to be called, Cherquis Bialo replied: "Absolutely not.

"Messi and the rest of the players will be eligible for all the national under-23 matches from July 29 onwards."