Argentine superstar Lionel Messi is set to arrive in India tomorrow (December 13) for the four-city ‘G.O.A.T. India Tour 2025’, and you can shake hands with him and take a picture if you buy a ticket worth Rs 10 lakh.
Messi will be back in India after 14 years. The last time he came to the country was on his maiden visit in 2011.
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The eight-time Ballon d’Or winner is not scheduled to play serious football during the tour this time. It is a fully promotional and commercially curated event which will begin in Kolkata on Saturday (December 13) and wind up on Monday (December 15) in New Delhi.
Messi to meet PM Modi
The organisers have opened 78,000 seats at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata with ticket prices going up to Rs 7,000 for his 45-minute appearance on Saturday morning.
Messi will spend less than 72 hours in India but will traverse four metropolises – Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi – in what has increasingly begun to resemble a high-profile roadshow involving chief ministers, corporate heavyweights, Bollywood celebrities and even a scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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India’s Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill, a confessed Messi admirer, is also expected to meet him after the Dharamsala T20I on December 14.
Messi’s last appearance in India remains etched in memory when on September 3, 2011, he danced past defenders, mesmerised with his left-footed grace and triggered waves of ecstasy in a packed (85,000 spectators) Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
Rs 10 lakh worth ‘Meet and Greet Ticket’
During these visits to Mumbai and Delhi, fans can shake hands with Messi and take pictures if they buy the “Meet and Greet Ticket” for Rs 10 lakh.
As per the Rs 10 lakh ticket, it includes “Entry to one person only. A chance to meet Lionel Messi and shake his hand. A professional group photo (six people per photo). Access to a curated buffet featuring gourmet food and non-alcoholic beverages.”
The highlight of the tour will be a 45-minute philanthropic fashion event in Mumbai on Sunday, featuring Messi, his long-time strike partner Luis Suarez and Argentina midfielder Rodrigo De Paul.
“There will be celebrity models, cricketers, Bollywood celebrities, millionaires, founders. Tiger and Jackie Shroff, John Abraham among others,” said Satadru Dutta, sole promoter of the tour.
Suarez will also feature in a Spanish music show. The organisers have requested Messi to bring “some memorabilia” of his trophy-winning 2022 World Cup campaign, which will be auctioned during the Mumbai leg.
The Mumbai event at Wankhede Stadium will be preceded by a Padel Cup at the CCI.
70-foot Messi statue in Kolkata
Kolkata will welcome Messi on Saturday. He will stay at a five-star hotel on EM Bypass and attend a sponsor-exclusive meet-and-greet in the morning.
Kolkata will also have a new ‘Messi landmark’ near the Sreebhumi Clock Tower (the Big Ben replica) on the VIP Road with a giant 70-foot statue of the Argentine World Cup winner holding the trophy aloft.
The inauguration will be a virtual ceremony from his hotel room after police denied permission for a public event.
A 25ft x 20ft Messi mural, planned for next year’s Durga Puja season, will also be unveiled and later presented to Messi at the Salt Lake Stadium.
After the event, Messi will fly to Hyderabad at 2 pm. The Hyderabad leg was added to the itinerary after Messi’s proposed friendly in Kochi was cancelled.
Once there, he will attend the GOAT Cup – a festival backed by Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy – featuring a 7v7 celebrity match, penalty shootouts, a masterclass for young talents and a musical tribute.
Messi will conclude his tour in Delhi, where he will meet PM Modi on Monday.
(With agency inputs)
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