A country made for sports |
It makes sense for legendary athletes and footballers to spend time in India given our respect for their skills
Argentine footballer Lionel Messi with some football fans during the final leg of his ‘GOAT India Tour 2025’, at Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium last month. PIC/PTI
It was nice to see Lionel Messi enjoying his time in India a few weeks ago. It was, by all official accounts, a successful trip he will undoubtedly want to repeat as quickly as possible. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if he bucks the decade-long trend of Indians desperate to permanently leave these shores (over 200,000 give up citizenship every year, for some strange reason) and relocates to an Indian city after retiring, given the type of reception he was given everywhere he went.
In Bombay, the legendary footballer looked genuinely happy as he was paraded around a stadium. It was an exotic experience of the kind all Westerners hope for when they apply for their tourist visas, so I’m glad we rolled out that red carpet for him. I could see how overwhelmed he was, in what I’m sure was a good way. It almost looked like shell shock. He must have also been honoured to meet people as famous and talented as himself —