Lionel Messi's Delhi fest turns into cricket jamboree

The Festival of Leo in the national capital’s historic Ferozeshah Kotla ground eventually turned out to be a cricket event in the end as International Cricket Council (ICC) chief Jay Shah handed football great Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul India’s white-ball cricket team jerseys with their names and numbers at the back. Messi had 10 printed on his back, Suarez 9 and De Paul seven.

Shah, who was accompanied on the stage by Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) President Rohan Jaitley and Rekha Gupta, the Chief Minister of Delhi, also handed Messi the first ticket for the 2026 T20 World Cup to be played in India and Sri Lanka as well as a signed bat encased in a frame.

While many fans struggled to lay their hands on tickets as all of them were said to be sold out, it was surprising to witness empty seats in the stadium. The seats at the top tier on both East and West stands were completely empty. There must have been around 24-25,000 spectators, 65% of the actual capacity.

Lionel Messi gets a signed bat from ICC Chief Jay Shah as CM Rekha Gupta (left), Luis Suarez (2nd from left) and Rodrigo de Paul (right) look on. (Pics: BCCI Twitter)

Some of the fans left the venue out of frustration before the football star made his delayed entry. He descended in Delhi later than the scheduled time reportedly due to flight delay. He was expected to be at the venue between 1.30/2 pm and 5 pm but arrived only at 4 pm, much to the annoyance of many fans.

Messi held a clinic with some kids and then kicked footballs into the crowd for fans to take home. The trio did a lap of the ground waving to the crowd.

But what really happened to all the promises of capacity crowd? Why weren’t the stands full?

There were various theories doing the rounds. One was that the organisers had stopped selling tickets beyond 18,000-20,000 to avoid the mess that was created in Kolkata due to too much crowd.

Messi, Suarez and De Paul with their Indian cricket jerseys

The other theory, and more believable, was that there were tickets bought and passes distributed but they were held on by people. Many were unable to dispense them and they went waste leaving many seats empty.

This is typical of this place.

As the evening wore on, and the promised stage events, including a music event, did not come about, Jay Shah’s T20 World Cup selling stunt hogged the limelight. No one had expected it to happen – after all it was to be about Messi and thousands of fans of football, more specifically FC Barcelona and Argentina. But as it so often happens here, it was Indian cricket that stole the show.

And Lionel Messi, who refused to hold a World Cup Football replica offered to him on stage, played along.

Messi with India vs USA match ticket of the T20 World Cup 

Just spare a thought for those next door at the Ambedkar Stadium, some having plied their trade and quit and some still plying their trade in the obscurity of football world’s farthest boondock. 

They weren’t as lucky as the DDCA officials who came up to the stage along with Jay Shah and Rohan Jaitley, within handshaking distance of the player chased by celebrities and fought over by fans in other cities.

Tags : Lionel Messi, Jay Shah, Luis Suarez, Rodrigo De Paul, Rekha Gupta, cricket, football