Lionel Messi arrived in Hyderabad on December 13 evening for the second leg of his India tour
Event to begin with an exhibition match at 7.50pm
First leg in Kolkata was cut short due to chaos at Salt Lake Stadium
After a chaotic start to the much-anticipated GOAT India Tour 2025 in Kolkata, Argentine football legend Lionel Messi arrived in Hyderabad on Saturday evening (December 13) for the second leg of his tour.
The evening in Hyderabad will begin with an exhibition match at 7.50pm. Soon after, Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will enter the pitch, followed by Messi, and then his Inter Miami teammates Rodrigo De Paul and Luis Suarez.
Earlier in the day, about 50,000 spectators, many of whom had paid INR 4,000 to 12,000 -- and in some cases up to INR 20,000 in the black market -- watched on as a swarm of politicians, VVIPs, security personnel, and others surrounded Messi, leaving the fans at the Salt Lake Stadium angry.
Angry fans broke barricades and clashed with the police, also hurling bottles -- banned items in an otherwise sporting venue. Chairs were then ripped out and thrown. Fibreglass seats lay smashed across the pitch and the synthetic track.
Neither Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, nor former India captain Sourav Ganguly or West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee could participate in the programme as the event was cut short amid the chaos.
The incident was followed by Banerjee apologising to Messi, as she announced the constitution of a high-level committee to investigate the happenings. Banerjee said the panel will conduct a detailed enquiry into the incident, fix responsibility, and suggest measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
(With PTI inputs)
