By Melvin Durai
Lionel Messi is considered the greatest football player of this era, so it shouldn’t be surprising that his three-day visit to India created more commotion than a visit from the Pope. It was billed as the GOAT Tour and fans in four cities, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi, packed stadiums to get a glimpse of the GOAT (greatest of all time). His visit to Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium, however, did not go well, as many fans were angry that they were unable to see him. He was surrounded by officials and celebrities on the field, and fans apparently had a hard time spotting him. The organisers should have used drones or other technology to create a big red arrow that pointed down to where Messi was standing.
Then perhaps fans could have spotted a wisp of his hair. Some fans had reportedly paid as much as Rs 12,000 to see a football god. When he left the field without giving them a good view of himself, many fans threw chairs, bottles and other items toward the pitch. I understand their disappointment. If only they had more money to spend, they could have actually met Messi and had their photo taken with him. According to a news report, anyone willing to spend about 10 lakh rupees could have bought a package that included a brief meeting/handshake with Messi, a professional photo, a premium seat at the main event, and an Argentina shirt signed by Messi. I don’t know what one crore would have bought you, but perhaps it would have given you the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to kiss his left foot.
That’s the golden foot that has scored more than 100 of his 115 international goals. Aside from letting you kiss his left foot, perhaps he’d have also let you kneel in front of him and receive a football blessing: “May all your goals be great goals. May all your passes be great passes. And may all your fl ops be rewarded with penalties.” A friend of mine once texted me a photo he had taken with Messi. He thought I’d be impressed, and I pretended to be. But I knew he had paid a lot of money for it. He was basically saying, “Look at me. I can afford to have my photo taken with a great footballer.” I don’t understand why people pay large sums of money to have their photos taken with celebrities. Even if I had a lot of extra money, I wouldn’t do it, not even to show my teeth next to Deepika Padukone. The photo would not give me the slightest amount of pride, knowing that the only reason she posed with me was the money I was willing to pay. Of course, celebrities have every right to make as much money as they want from their fans. Messi probably doesn’t visit any country without the promise of a boatload of cash.
Many fans in India were willing to pay for just a glimpse of him. In Delhi, fans got to watch him play football with a group of kids, giving them a sample of the skills that earned him eight Ballon d’Or trophies, presented annually to the best football player in the world. While in India, Messi met several politicians and celebrities, including Shah Rukh Khan, Rahul Gandhi and Sachin Tendulkar. I can’t help wondering: Did Shah Rukh have to pay anything to meet Messi? Or did Messi have to pay something to meet Shah Rukh? And how much would a fan have had to pay to get a photo with both Messi, the greatest footballer, and Tendulkar, the greatest cricketer? Probably more money than I could make in a lifetime.
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