Jamnagar (Gujarat) [India], December 15 (ANI): Football icon Lionel Messi, along with Suarez, Rodrigo De Paul, and other members of the GOAT India Tour arrived in Jamnagar on Monday, where the Argentine star is scheduled to visit Vantara, the wildlife rescue and conservation centre, and will be hosted by Anant Ambani.
New Delhi hosted the grand finale of Lionel Messi’s “G.O.A.T. India Tour 2025”, bringing the historic four-city tour to a smooth and successful closure amid immense fan enthusiasm.
Messi arrived in the national capital on December 15, following successful engagements in Kolkata, Hyderabad, and Mumbai, and the Delhi leg culminated the tour.
The on-field programme at the Arun Jaitley Stadium featured a celebrity football match between the Minerva Messi All Stars and the Celebrity Messi All Stars. Following the game, Lionel Messi stepped onto the field for a brief interaction with players from both teams. He later engaged with young footballers, sharing a few passes alongside Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul, offering a memorable experience for the aspiring talents.
The event culminated in a stage ceremony attended by the Chief Minister of Delhi, Rekha Gupta and other distinguished dignitaries, including Jay Shah, Chairman of the International Cricket Council (ICC), Rohan Jaitley, President of the Delhi & District Cricket Association and former Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia.
During the ceremony, Jay Shah presented specially curated Indian cricket jerseys to Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul, followed by the presentation of a commemorative cricket bat signed by legendary Indian cricketers to Messi.
During Lionel Messi’s visit to Mumbai, the Argentine football icon graced the Wankhede Stadium with his presence as a part of his ‘GOAT India Tour’ 2025. Messi, along with Suarez and De Paul, met Indian football legend Sunil Chhetri and the country’s ‘Bharat Ratna’, the cricketing icon Sachin Tendulkar.
Messi’s second pit stop during the GOAT India Tour 2025 was Hyderabad. Fans who gathered at the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium got to witness Argentina’s FIFA World Cup-winning icon Messi in action, where he took part in a 7-on-7 exhibition football match involving the state’s Chief Minister, Revanth Reddy, soaked in the love from a passionate and loud audience and also met the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi.
Messi’s Kolkata leg, the first stop on the ‘GOAT Tour 2025’, ended chaotically. While the moment was supposed to be a moment of union between the World Cup-winning superstar and a football-crazy state, the presence of VIPs and politicians on the pitch with Messi sent fans into frenzy as they could barely catch a glimpse of the footballer for whom they had paid their hard-earned money. (ANI)
