Argentine superstar Lionel Messi who is set to visit India on a 4-city tour officially confirmed on Instagram that Hyderabad was added as the 4th city for the GOAT Tour, scheduled to kick off from Kolkata on December 13.
“Thanks for all the love from India! The GOAT tour kicks off in a few weeks’ time!!! I’m happy to share that Hyderabad has been added to my visits to Kolkata, Mumbai and Delhi. See you soon India!” Messi posted.
The World Cup-winning captain will be in Hyderabad after the Kolkata leg and will then proceed to Mumbai and New Delhi where he is expected to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“I look forward to welcoming and hosting G.O.A.T. Lionel Messi in #Hyderabad on December 13. It is an exciting moment for our city and for every football fan who has dreamt of seeing a legend like you on our soil. Hyderabad is ready to host him with warmth, pride and the spirit that defines our people,” Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy tweeted on X.
The decision to add Hyderabad came in the wake of the cancellation of Argentina’s proposed friendly in Kochi, which had been originally announced by Kerala Sports Minister V Abdurahiman for November 17.
The revised plan ensured that Messi’s ‘GOAT Tour’ would span all the four corners of India — east (Kolkata), south (Hyderabad), west (Mumbai) and north (New Delhi).
“It’s happening in Hyderabad. The activity that was scheduled in Ahmedabad is now happening in Mumbai,” organiser Satadru Dutta had told The Indian Express earlier this month.
Dutta had also said that the The GOAT Cup, a celebratory seven-a-side soft-touch football match that will feature celebrities and was scheduled to be played in Kolkata and Mumbai, will also be part of the Hyderabad leg. Tickets are likely to start at Rs 3,500 and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is expected to felicitate Messi during the programme.
Also set to feature in the tour are Uruguay great Luis Suarez and Argentina’s Rodrigo de Paul, both of whom are close friends and longtime teammates of Messi.
This will be Messi’s second visit to India, with the first of those being with Argentina for a friendly with Venezuela at the Salt Lake Stadium. Incidentally, that was also the game in which Messi captained Argentina for the first time in his career. Dutta had earlier told this paper that he had shown clips from that match, and photos of a 75-foot statue of Messi lifting the World Cup, which he had erected in a Durga Pooja pandal that Barcelona great and Messi’s former teammate Ronaldinho inaugurated in 2023.
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