Messi accorded warm welcome in Hyderabad

Hyderabad bestowed a warm welcome on legendary footballer Lionel Messi even as police stepped up security measures following the fracas in Kolkata. Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy welcomed the football icon at Falaknuma Palace after he arrived in Hyderabad by a special flight from Kolkata. The Opposition parties, however, slammed the Chief Minister, an avid soccer fan, for the extravagance.

Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister and Congress leaders also greeted the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and party MP Rahul Gandhi, who arrived in Hyderabad to meet the World Cup-winning Argentinian and watch the exhibition match between the Chief Minister’s team and Messi’s side at Uppal stadium. Over 50,000 fans had gathered in the stadium and were chanting “Messi Messi”. A laser show was also held at the stadium.

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In a bid to avoid a repeat of the situation in Kolkata, the Hyderabad police put stringent measures in place. Only 250 guests were granted permission to attend the photo session, with access restricted through QR codes.

Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister took to social media to say, “Politics aside, today the theme and mood are sports. And we are all just lovers of the great game of football and GOAT.” However, the BRS chose to remind that Adanis were one of the sponsors of the event. Moreover, BRS leader T Harish Rao slammed Reddy for being busy with football when 60 students of two government schools fell sick due to food poisoning. He said, “60 students from government schools have suffered food poisoning, and no minister has the time to visit them. The Chief Minister is busy playing football.” He took a dig at Reddy, who had been practising in footballing gear for the past few days, preparing for the exhibition match.