HT Kick Off: Optical illusion

It began in topsy-turvyness, ended in jubilation and confetti. In ternary of the 4 cities, Lionel Messi and his friends’ circuit transformed chief ministers, footballers, celebrities – including Sachin Tendulkar at Wankhede Stadium – and children into fans. In one, his first stop, he was ring-fenced by freeloaders ruining the experience for paying fans leading to carnage.

In Hyderabad, Messi and Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy played in opposing teams. In Mumbai, Messi and his Inter Miami teammates Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul enjoyed quick-pass drills with children. Amid AQI so severe that junior school classes have moved online and conditions so smoggy that his flight was delayed, Messi enthralled Delhi. Explains why Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber said he was a unicorn. Explains why at times he has been compared to Muhammad Ali and the Pope.

Before uploading vignettes on Instagram of his “amazing” visit, Delhi was also the only place where Messi spoke, promising to return and, maybe, play.. Which, really, is what Messi is all about. As N Ananthanarayanan wrote in HT: “The whirlwind tour showed what he does with the ball at his feet is the real message.” Not getting him to play in the country where he began his journey as Argentina’s full-time captain 14 years ago meant his visit was only about optics for affluent Indians.

Which, in itself, was fine. Except for the timing. And who knows that better than a man who can see things on a pitch his opponents often cannot, who can play that pass to Nahuel Molina. Messi’s visit coincided with that of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Noah Lyles but the athletics stars were guests at a marathon. This week, a number of top tennis players will be strutting their stuff in Bengaluru.

This tour was also not the first private visit to India by famous footballers. Pele and Diego Maradona have come to India though the former also came as a player for New York Cosmos in 1977. In 2018, Pele was a speaker at HT’s Leadership Summit.

But only Messi’s visit happened at a time when the men’s club game has been kicked to touch. It is not Messi’s fault, or that of the organiser, but terrible timing it is. In the time of ISL and I-League getting zero bids for commercial partners, it meant the only football Sunil Chhetri plays is a kickabout with Messi in the building.

ESPN calculated that in all people spent approximately ₹23.4 crore in private sessions for a photograph with Messi and mates. Abhinav Bindra’s “quiet sadness” matters in this context.

Either Delhi or Hyderabad will not have an ISL team if the league happens this season. Mumbai has not been able to restart Rovers Cup since 2000-01 and its ISL team plays at a venue that holds 7000.

The tour also left an iconic stadium damaged. Informal estimate of the damage to the Salt Lake stadium, refurbished by the state government for over ₹120 crore ahead of the 2017 under-17 World Cup, has been pegged at ₹2 crore. The damage to Kolkata’s reputation? Incalculable.

Between Eden Gardens and Salt Lake stadium – IPL, ISL and Kolkata league – no city annually deals with as much crowd at stadiums as Kolkata. Yes, there has been trouble but for most of the time, including two IPL trophy winning celebrations and an under-17 World Cup final, events have been efficiently managed.

The organiser is in jail but on Saturday morning, he was clearly helpless. His pleas to clear the pitch were ignored leading to ministers in Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet, including sports minister Aroop Biswas, Mohun Bagan president and general secretary and others influential enough to get field-of-play badges hijacking the Argentina captain.

The state’s reaction reminded me of what TCA Anant, in a column for Mint discussing Indigo’s meltdown, termed passive governance. “It is a style of governance marked by delayed reaction and minimal proactive engagement,” he said.

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