HYDERABAD: Argentine football icon Lionel Messi arrived in Hyderabad for the second leg of his GOAT India Tour 2025 on Saturday evening, after a chaotic start to the much-anticipated event in Kolkata.
The evening in the City of Nizams will begin with an exhibition match at 7.50 p.m. Shortly after, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will make entry on to 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 Rs 4,000 to Rs 12,000 -- and in some cases up to Rs 20,000 in the black market -- watched helplessly as a swarm of politicians, VVIPs, security personnel, and assorted hangers more interested in selfies than crowd control surrounded Messi, leaving the fans at the Salt Lake Stadium angry.
Angry fans started the mayhem by hurling bottles -- banned items in an otherwise sporting venue. It was baffling how they were allowed to enter with these objects, which also included food packets. Chairs were then ripped out and thrown.
Fibreglass seats lay smashed across the pitch and the synthetic track.