Chai Football
Chai Football is a weekly podcast hosted by well know Sony ESPN and Ten Sports TV Anchor Joe Morrison alongside sports business journalist, Shruthi Nair and outspoken owner of Delhi FC and the Minerva Football ‘factory’, Ranjit Bajaj.
A no holds barred look at what’s going on in the World of Indian Football along with regular invited guests from both the football landscape as well as famous fans of football from the sub-continent and beyond.
Chai Football
The Truth About The GOAT’s Disastrous Tour Of India
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This week on Chai Football, Joe Morrison and Manas Gera break down the truth behind Lionel Messi’s headline-grabbing India tour! From Kolkata crowd chaos and Argentina fan fever to the behind-the-scenes reality of appearance fees, sports event security and how major football appearances can unravel in seconds.
Beyond the controversy, we ask the bigger question: what actually grows football in India? We compare superstar meet-and-greets with real grassroots football development - coaching, academies, and youth pathways - and why brief training-ground sessions in Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad may matter more than any stadium spectacle.
With moments involving Sunil Chhetri and lifelong Messi fans, this episode explores football legacy, the business of global sports tours and the future of Indian football.
Production Credits:
Presented by: Joe Morrison & Manas Gera
Studio Engineer & Editor: Manny Peñamora
Executive Producers: Joe Morrison and Ian Carless
Produced by: W4 Podcast Studio
Messi Takes Over The Feed
SPEAKER_00First things first, there's one thing that's been dominating all of my feed of late. It is Messi being in my country. I have watched nothing else on my social media apart from Messi, awfully smiling. Messi's wedding smile. He must be getting physier on his face. The first thing was chaotic to release announced what at that point that are the next two days even gonna happen.
SPEAKER_01What happened in Calcutta got out of hand. It was ridiculous.
SPEAKER_00Those pictures are gonna be on the internet for the rest of time.
SPEAKER_01The viral videos that went round the world are the chaos, the drama, the nonsense from first play.
Hosts Reunite And Set The Stage
SPEAKER_00Hello, welcome to Chai Football. I am Manas and I am in the company of the original voice of Indian football, as I would like to call them. Voice. Voice of Indian.
SPEAKER_01Did you say voice? Now, if Trudy was sitting there, alright, I would immediately correct her. Do you know that in her in with her friends, she says voice, and then when she's sitting in front of me, she says voice. Is it? Yeah, she's now conscious of it.
SPEAKER_00I'm not there yet. By the end of this, I might be. I'm with Joe Morrison. Joe, how are you feeling today? How's everything going? I am good.
SPEAKER_01I had my ice bath this morning, like I do every morning, so I'm feeling pretty good. And I'm sitting opposite you. Nice to see you again, Manas, after a long time.
SPEAKER_00Hi, Chris. There's been a reunion after five years. Is it five years? It's it was five years. 2020. 2020 marches. Five years of my life has gone by without you in it.
SPEAKER_01Struggle. Now I know why, you know, life just hasn't been the same.
SPEAKER_00Probably. But Joe. You're the substitute, aren't you? I'm the substitute for the day for Shruti. I'm in Dubai, and I was not missing a chance to be here in the studio.
SPEAKER_01By the way, when Shruti is in the starting lineup ahead of you, Mara, something has gone seriously wrong with the world. Seriously wrong.
SPEAKER_00Nah, I believe I believe Shruti is pretty awesome at it, and it's an honor to be here in Shruti's place. Shruti, the sea belongs to you. Yeah, I'm just a sub at the moment in time. She's on holiday, by the way. What another one of her month-long holidays. Fair enough. But yo, I'm here and I'm not missing the chance to talk about Indian football with you. There is a bunch that's been going on in my country with the football. And first things first, there's one thing that's been dominating all of my feed of late. And I think you know what that is, right? It is it is messy
Kolkata Chaos And Global Optics
SPEAKER_00being in my country. And for those three days. Was he there?
SPEAKER_01Nobody could see him. Was he there?
SPEAKER_00I have read nothing else. I have watched nothing else on my social media apart from Messi um awkwardly smiling at different people, enjoying some of the moments.
SPEAKER_01You know what it was? You know, I've got a term for it now. Messi's wedding smile. You know exactly what I'm talking about. You've been to weddings, yes? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, for the extended periods of time, especially if you're the bride and groom, of course, it's that.
SPEAKER_00And I'm not used to seeing Messi do that. I'm not used to seeing Messi do that. And he's doing a really nice job of being nice to everybody.
SPEAKER_01We've seen it for 30 seconds when he's on stage receiving an award, you know, at the FIFA awards or Ballandor or whatever. We've never seen him shaking hands with so many people and just that permanent his jaws must be sore. Must be sore, surely. He must be getting physio on his face at the end of that.
SPEAKER_00But it's actually nice to see he's actually been very gracious about the entire situation. There have been moments where I thought he might just lose his cool. But okay, wait, we'll get to that too.
SPEAKER_01I was gonna lose his cool, he's getting paid.
SPEAKER_00Fair enough. But Joe, there has been so much that went down in those three days. There were there was a combination of iconic moments. We saw Messi hang out with Sunil Chaitri, the one the only. We saw him hang out with Sachendandukar, other Z Chohan as well. Then there were some really funny moments. There were moments where the chief minister has misplaced way too many passes. He made Messi defend more than he's ever defended in all his career. And then there was just downright embarrassing moments. We saw the chaos that ensued on the first day of the tour. Yeah. So there's a lot of discuss, but one thing is for sure this these three days, unforgettable. Those pictures are gonna be on the internet for the rest of time. What did you make of all of that?
SPEAKER_01Put it this way, it hasn't gone under the radar, has it? The trip. And I'm talking about the global radar, I'm not talking about the Indian radar. I think uh it it look, it's great to have Messi in India, number one. I was there actually at the stadium, the Salt Lake Stadium, for the game when Argentina played Venezuela in 2011. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that was bonkers, but it was a match. Um, so it's great to have him in India, that's the positive. The negative is that despite the rest of the tour going relatively well, I'm sorry, but the viral, the viral videos that went round the world and can't be pulled back are the chaos, the drama, the nonsense from that first day in Calcutta.
SPEAKER_00The first day was chaotic to say the least, and I was worried that at that point that are the next two days even gonna happen? Those lapses and the way Messi, like the greatest of all time. Possibly. What? What? What did you say? Possibly possibly, so I wasn't I wasn't there during Maradona and the Pelis and the Croyes.
SPEAKER_01You don't have to be there during Maradona and the Pelis and the Croyes. Messi greatest of all time.
SPEAKER_00Greatest of all time. For sure. All guarantees. But I was worried after that first day if he's even gonna stay for the next two days because that was chaotic to say the least, embarrassing. As an Indian, it just it just felt like my skin was crawling when I saw the politicians around him. But kudos to Messi, he stuck around on the same day he was in Hyderabad, like in the
How Superstar Appearance Deals Work
SPEAKER_00evening, and then he continued to Mumbai and Delhi.
SPEAKER_01So, do you know how the payment of this all works? Rough ideas, right? Yeah. So that's the starting point. Right. So Messi hasn't come to India for free, number one. Now, there are various reports at one end of the scale. I saw somewhere that it was six million dollars up to ten, twelve million dollars. Take your pick, take your pick on what the number is. And it doesn't really matter. Now, the way it works is when anything like this happens, 50% of the fee will be paid to Messi's team or Messi's agent before he even gets on the plane, his own plane. Then there'll be another percentage that is paid from the minute he touches down. Okay. Every contract's different. Sometimes it's the remaining 50%, and then there may be uh 25% the minute he he touches down, and then the final 25% when he leaves, the the day he leaves. So that's kind of how the payment system works, okay? So Messi had to come, he had to stay, and then of course he had to leave. So uh because if he didn't, then he doesn't get the final installments of that. Now, because it's Messi, I imagine the contract was weighted heavily in favour of his side of the deal.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So no doubt he literally wouldn't get on the plane if he didn't get that first 50%. It might have been more, by the way, it might have been 60%, for example. I have no doubt that he would get back on the plane on the very first day if he didn't get the next percentage installment. And I imagine that maybe at the beginning of day three, he would not continue with the day three activations, which were in Delhi. Delhi was the last day, yeah. It was the last day, without getting the final instalment. Okay. Because it's Messi. Okay. Now, if it was Manas, well, I am told that Manas does not turn up for a gig unless he gets 50% up front in his bank account before the cameras start rolling. Is that right?
SPEAKER_00No, that's not pretty accurate, Joe. But the other thing, Messi has had one of the most stellar cardios in football, and um fair enough, the money must have been sensational, 6 million, 8, 10, 12, how much it was. It certainly wasn't rupees, put it that way.
SPEAKER_01Fair enough. Actually, the genuinely generally generally agreed number is 150 crore. What's that in dollars? What's 150 crore in dollars? I have no idea, Jim. I'm not exactly a lot of money.
SPEAKER_00A lot of money, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Whilst you're talking, I'm gonna type in 150 crore. How many zeros is 150 crore? So I've got a currency converter on my phone. It's one five and then eight zeros after that. 15 and then eight zeros. There's people sitting watching this going, you don't you don't know off the top of your head what 150 crore is? No, I don't. Is the simple matter? So right, one, five, and then what? Eight zeros. Eight zeros after that, yeah. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Uh-huh. Done. Right. So US dollars, sixteen million dollars. Now I don't think it was as high as that. But in that ballpark. Sixteen million four hundred and ninety-one thousand dollars.
SPEAKER_00But here's the thing, so I'll tell you about Joe, there was there's there have been opinions flying around what could have happened, what should have happened, what Messi could have done. There was one quote from Sunil Gawaskar, he's an Indian cricket legend. He mentioned that Messi was contracted, may have been contracted to be at the Kolkata ground for a certain amount of time. And he did not respect his contract obligations. But here's the thing: if Lionel Messi
Security, Contracts And The Pull-Out Clause
SPEAKER_00has come to India and he's been surrounded by a hundred people, and the security situation is what it was on that ground. I will never blame Messi for being like, no, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not sticking around away.
SPEAKER_01Well, first of all, um it wouldn't be Messi himself that decides, it would be his agent or the promoter or something like that. I mean it got way out of hand.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01What happened in in Calcutta got out of hand. It was ridiculous. Now, if you look across his entire itinerary, I was having a look at it before we we sat down and started chatting. The bit that he's actually committed to each day is approximately an hour. Yeah. So even though there's a whole load of events, so there might be some peripheral entertainment going on or presentations going on or stuff going on, the bit where Messi is physically there and on the stage or on the field is about an hour. Now, yeah, my understanding was he was supposed to be there for an hour as well, and he left after 20 minutes, which is why the riot began. But at the same time, it's like the the situation was starting to spiral out of control. Because if you compare Calcutta with the event in Hyderabad, the event in Bombay, and the event in Delhi, um, how many people were surrounding Messi in Bombay, Delhi, Hyderabad? You know, it was literally like there's the stage, these are the people that you've been introduced to, these are the people that you're taking the photo with, get off the stage, these are the kids that you're doing a little rondo with, move on to the next group of kids that you're doing passing drill with, move on. That was just it was a melee of people. So there will have been something contractually which said if Messi's team feels that his security is under threat, and when we're talking about security is under threat, it's not that anybody's gonna kill Messi, you know, that's not what we're talking about here. We're talking about a situation where the the there's such a large group of people that it's starting to get a little bit out of control, then there'll be a clause in the contract which says they can pull it, they can pull the gig. And I think that's what'll have happened.
SPEAKER_00And honestly, I was I was a little relieved. I was relieved. Because as a football fan, as a Messi fan, they messy's priority.
SPEAKER_01But you see, as a f yes, and but what I can't understand about this whole thing, Manas, is why would anyone
Spectacle Versus Sport: What Fans Want
SPEAKER_01give up uh in many cases a month's salary to sit in the stands and watch the greatest Manas, the greatest player of all time in this melee, what would it be from the stands to the pitch? Maybe a hundred, two hundred yards, probably three hundred yards, maybe like from that distance, and you you can't even see him because Messi's very short, everyone knows that. He's just surrounded by politicians, security, hangers-on. Like what I d I just you know what that's like that's like me watching the greatest cricketer to ever grace the game, which is Sassion Tendulko, watching him in a melee of people instead of watching Sassion knocking people for six over the boundary. I want to see the greatest player of all time, in whatever sport, playing their damn fucking sport. Not this. I don't understand that. I thoroughly enjoyed Argentina against Venezuela because Messi was playing in India against Venezuela in a game, doing what we all love Messi to do, which is going past one player, putting a nutmeg through another player, dribbling round three or four players, and then putting it in the top corner. Why would you want to go and watch Sash and Tendulka standing shaking hands with with celebrities, VIPs, and in particular politicians? Why? I don't get that. I really don't get that mentality. I really don't.
SPEAKER_00And here's the thing: I wasn't when when the idea of this event came out, I wasn't sure what was gonna happen. Because if you're not seeing Messi play football, what exactly is Messi gonna do? Because I feel Messi, unlike a few other star footballers, he isn't very fond of the mic or the cameras or or the halal baloo that happens around football. But he's fond of 16 million dollars. All of Messi's expression takes place on the pitch with the football at his feet. And and that is what I feel we love about Leonard Messi. So Why wouldn't you want to say that? Yeah. And and more in in some cases. But the thing is, Messi transcends football to such a level that people knew that this he's not gonna play football. He's probably just gonna do a rondo, a few keeppy-upies with politicians, a few Indian footballers and kids. But those stadiums were all backed out.
SPEAKER_01But that was that was actually that was the bit that probably in one small crumb of comfort rescued the situation on the final day, you know, playing with the kids. Um, because why is that important? It's important because uh there were quite a few kids there, weren't there? I thought they were from different academies, I saw some of the Minerva uh Academy boys there. They'll remember that for the rest of their lives, but not only will they remember it, it will give them a little bit of a what's
Kids On The Pitch And Real Inspiration
SPEAKER_01the word motivation. Yeah, motivation, yeah. Like it'll push them on. It'll, you know, one kid will go, I remember that day, and you know, and ten years from now that kid will be in the national team, you know, because of because of meeting that inspiration of meeting Messi and you know becoming becoming India's number one striker or midfielder or goalkeeper, whatever, whatever it may be. It's that inspiration that has a value. Meeting politicians, tell me how many of those politicians will be in position 10, 15, 20 years from now, in the in the same position. But mind you, it is India, isn't it?
SPEAKER_00So right, this is gonna continue to be a sports podcast. We talk about after the podcast. But that actually is something I wanted to ask you about, Joe. So this event, these three days, certainly helped promote football in India. But how much did it I mean like the entire promoted messy in India? Did it promote football in India? So that was that was what I wanted to ask you. How much has it promoted Indian football? You told me about the kids being there. Very little.
SPEAKER_01So so it I'll I'll put the question to you. Okay. If you had to choose which you think had more of an impact in promoting football in India, was it Leo Messi winning the World Cup final with the winning goal in Qatar 2022, or Leo Messi at the Salt Lake Stadium, surrounded by politicians and VIPs and celebrity meets and greets? What what do you think? If you're a 10-year-old, or if you can put your you've got have you got nephews?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, what?
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_00How old are they? I've got a niece who is one and a half years old.
SPEAKER_01Right. She's not watching it yet. Yeah, go go ask her. Ask her and then get back to me today. So if go go and ask, you know, 10-year-olds and and say which inspired me more. And I'm not talking about the 10-year-olds who are on the field with Messi doing rondos. I'm talking about ones who are watching it on the news or you know on on social media or whatever. Between the World Cup and that, tell me what uh tell me what do you what do you think would be more inspiring?
SPEAKER_00I think nothing tops got our 2022, the final.
SPEAKER_01Or or a Barcelona, you know, Real Madrid Classico, or Messi, you know, doing what Messi does. I no, it it's chalk and cheese. Anyone who thinks that that carried Indian football for the next 10 years is deluded. Absolutely deluded. Messi winning the World Cup may have carried Indian football for the next 10 years, but that hasn't done that.
SPEAKER_00So, how much do you think it helped? So let me put it this way: those kids, as you said, the guys from the Minerva Academy and the guys in um Mumbai as well, the kids in Mumbai, and the kids in uh Hyderabad as well. I'm not gonna mention Kolkata, Kolkata just there was nothing that happened. It was a shit show. Yeah, that can we swear on this podcast? No, you can't now. I can't. So there is nothing. I know from my parents watching this and be like, it was a shit show. So Kolkata, so Kolkata. Sorry, Mr.
SPEAKER_01and Mrs. Gira.
SPEAKER_00Kolkata, nothing happened. But I feel what happened, and I am so glad that the two recovered after Kolkata because as we discussed, I was worried that it's gonna end at that point. But as he said, Nasi might have received his payments. So the thing is, I wanted to ask you
Did It Promote Indian Football
SPEAKER_00what happened in Hyderabad, in Mumbai, in Delhi, the academy prospects, Ranjeet Bhajad, which with the with the kids from his academy were there. That is bound to be helpful for Indian football, the future of Indian football, right? So amidst all the kiosk.
SPEAKER_01No, no, so I understand your question, and I understand what you're driving at, and I understand why you're asking it. But I would put this to you. For the amount of money that was spent, was it beneficial to Indian football? So was it the best ROI bang for buck? So we're just talking, I don't think it was $16.5 million, by the way. But let's say it was at the other end of the scale. Let's say it was eight million dollars. Yeah. Right? So for the eight million dollars that was spent, do you think, do you, Manas, think it was a good return on investment? So here's the thing. I feel I I know where I could spend eight million dollars in Indian football and get a a much greater return.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So here's the thing.
SPEAKER_00I feel this entire way You know is the answer. Oh, yeah, definitely. Like, I would have definitely like had I been in charge, that's actually something I want to ask you as well. Had I been in charge, that amount of money would not have been directed in this direction. But also, this was a private event. This was an event that was hosted by No, it wasn't a private event. It was public. By private event, I mean it was a private entity entity that promoted this entire event. It was a PR company that took place. So and the thing is AIFF completely distanced itself from all of the ongoings of this event.
SPEAKER_01Well, and go ahead, go ahead. I was just gonna say the II AI double F can't have on their conscience another shit show after the shit shows that they've delivered during 2025. But anyway, carry on.
SPEAKER_00So the thing is um they are completely within the rights. Rap sheet, that's the word I was looking for.
SPEAKER_01Okay, the AI double F can't have on there, you know what a rap sheet is, yeah? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like if you're a criminal, it's you know, it's a it's a list of your crimes. So the AI double F can't have in their rap sheet, another uh debacle. But anyway, sorry.
SPEAKER_00So there that is a topic that we'll be covering soon. But I feel they have the rights to do whatever they like with their money. However, Joe, as you'd of course know, if it was 8 million or 16 million, this could have been sent in some really good directions for Indian football. Like right now, I feel one of the main concerns in not only Indian football, but Indian sport is the lack of grassroots infrastructure. That is a direction this could have gone in. You know what's happening with the ISL right now. This could have funded a few teams, if not an entire season for the duration of the ISL season. This could have gone in so many different directions that would have actually benefited Indian football. But any promotions telling you that this was meant to promote Indian football is it's a lie, in my opinion. This wasn't Indian football, this was a business
ROI Debate And Better Ways To Spend
SPEAKER_00tour and an event made to make money. So that was my thoughts.
SPEAKER_01Now, my question would be Did they make money? Now, what do you class as making money? If there's gonna be a state or a government minister that is gonna take out of the state's coffers the finances to get this done to work in partnership with that private company, I think that's a little bit disingenuous. You know, if it was purely like uh you go and speak to a music promoter, what you do is you have to pay the band to turn up. Coldplay were in India. Was it last year they were in India? I can't remember. Um, or the year before Coldplay, I think, uh played a concert in India, or two a couple of concerts in India. Uh Ed Sheeran played a couple. So the way that works is the promoter pays the band or the singer a fee, a set fee. Fixed fee, and then uh the rest of it, the rest of the onus is on the promoter to sell the tickets, right? So if he doesn't sell enough tickets, it's his problem, it's his loss. If you sell loads of tickets, he gets the profits, and I think there's probably a profit share whereby there's a small percentage gets given to the singer for any profit, you know, 20% or something like that. Right. So put it into this scenario because that's what it was. It was like Ed Sheeran or well, Messi's bigger than Ed Sheeran. Um, but you know, it was like a singer or a band coming to India, that's what it was. Three days, promotional tour, whatever the case may be, sell tickets, sell sponsorship, sell partnerships, everything involved. So if you take out the government element of it, and just say, you know, I saw JSW group, for example, uh uh were branded, and uh Path Jindal um was up on stage and you know, saying a few words and all the rest of it. So that's a promotional thing, and they'll have paid for that uh to be part of that, and they'll have been a partner, like you see, you know how you see on these boards gold sponsor, platinum sponsor, silver sponsor, silver platinum, yeah. Yeah, yeah, correct, exactly. So Bitcoin, Bitcoin sponsor. Um that's the next level, isn't it? So you uh if you take those genuine revenue-driving elements and partners and sponsors, did they make a profit? So take the government out of it. I would love to see those numbers. I would love to see those numbers. Otherwise, and Trudy and I were talking about this when the games were first announced months back, Argentina was supposed to, Argentina was supposed to come and play. Otherwise, it is the most expensive selfie tour in world history. Probably in the Guinness Book of Records, because that's all it was. People getting selfies with with Messi and 16 and a half million or eight million, to take your pick, million dollars spent on a selfie tour with Messi.
SPEAKER_00I think selfie tour is like amazing branding for this one. It isn't.
SPEAKER_01Not the goat tour, they should have called it the selfie tour. The messy selfie tour. But um, Joe, and by the way, did a sheep give its life for that
Government, Sponsors And The “Selfie Tour”
SPEAKER_01thing in on your neck, that hood.
SPEAKER_00I just knew you were gonna say something about this, Joe. The way is getting away too. Is that a dead sheep? I don't know, Joe. No, I don't think it's a dead sheep. No, we don't do that out here.
SPEAKER_01I thought you were all petter and animal rights, and I thought you were that kind of person. Greta Thunberg, I thought Greta Thunberg was on speed dial on your phone.
SPEAKER_00No, but I'm pretty sure this is not um there's no there was no animal harmed in making this jacket for us. But Joe, I just want to ask you finally, like 10 years down the line, when you look back at these three days when Messi was in India, what is what do you feel will be the general sentiment around these three days? Legacy of this tour.
SPEAKER_01What will be remembered? Um, a 70-foot gold statue that doesn't look like Messi, looks more like Ronaldo than Messi. That that will be a highlight. Ripping up seats that are thrown onto the salt the turf at the Salt Lake Stadium, all of that chaos and Messi being whisked away, and the tickets having a politician on the front instead of Messi's face. The uh what were you know your politicians? What was the the chief minister that uh couldn't play a five-yard pass? Revant Reddy, yeah.
SPEAKER_00I actually liked him. He tried his best.
SPEAKER_01He tried his best. Tried his best. God damn it. It's like, you know, he's insulted football shorts, football shirts, and football boots. He's just insulted the whole the the whole industry of football kit. Reddy's five-yard passes will be remembered. Uh, what else will be remembered? Oh, I think Rodrigo DePa's what's the word? Bodyguard. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bodyguard, close protection of Leo Messi and Luis Suarez as well, of course. I think that's what I'll remember ten years from now. I'm not sure that's what they'll want to be remembered, but you know, but that's what I'll remember.
SPEAKER_00I I feel I want to look at the positive of this as well. So I'll tell you Joe what happened. So when when we were working, we worked together on the 2018 Russia World Cup.
SPEAKER_01Have we worked together, haven't we? Yeah. We work on the Russia World Cup as well. My therapist is, you know, expunged that from my mind. She said, you must forget it. You know, trauma release, all that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah. Oh, but in the 2018 Russia World Cup, we covered a story where we did uh we did this campaign Dusri Country Diaries, right? And we covered super fans. Remember, yeah. Super fans from around India. So the campaign for the World Cup was Mary Dusri Country, my second country. And our campaign that we pulled off was Dusri Country Diaries, where we documented some of the biggest football fans and how they celebrate and support their second country. One of the stories that we covered, I mentioned this to you that this tea seller from Ichapur in West Bengal, the biggest Messi fan, he he tried to save money to watch Messi in Russia. Unfortunately, he couldn't, so he used the money that he made to paint his entire bungalow blue and
What Will Be Remembered Ten Years On
SPEAKER_00white. His name is Ship Shankar Patra. And Messi's birthday fell in the middle of the World Cup. So on the day of Messi's birthday, we were we were there like a day after that. He celebrated Messi's birthday by giving cake to his entire like village, all of the people in the society. Village or village? One of those two. One of those two. Just because you're not Shruti doesn't mean to say that you're not gonna get away with sorry, carry on. From the same country Shruti represent. And the thing is, I messaged Shib Shankarpatra and I asked him, I I messaged his wife. I asked her, is he gonna meet? Is he gonna see Messi? Because of course, like he's he's from Kolkata, he was gonna do the Kolkata event. Is he gonna meet see Messi? And Shruti uh and the wife told me that uh not Shruti, the wife told me Shruti, is there's something we need to know that actually he wasn't only just gonna see Messi, he was gonna meet Messi. So they set up something where uh Ship Shankarpatra was gonna meet Messi in the flesh along with Suarez and Rodriguez Paul. And that actually happened. I I did not I did not think it was gonna happen because we saw what actually happened, and I I thought that would cancel a bunch of other things as well, including this. But a day after that, I actually got pictures sent from Shib Shankarpatra of him with Messi. Do you want can I show you? Brilliant. Yeah, yeah. So her name is Swapnaji, and I was worried because there is no bigger super fan. Of course, there must be, but like I've never personally seen so you're telling me this story.
SPEAKER_01Why was that not one of the many main narratives of this trip? You know what I mean? Instead, what has gone round the world is the shit show in Calcutta. It's this is all about VIPs and celebrities meeting in Messi and people that are throwing the money around, and obviously the Messi himself has come for an absolute fortune. Like to me, they're the stories, plus the kids that got to do the little training sessions and rondos with Messi, those are the stories. And I would even throw in there the Sunal Chetris, you know, Bai Chung uh Buddhia got to meet Messi as well. That's what should have been the theme of this trip from beginning to end. That's what it should have been.
SPEAKER_00That's what I was hoping the answer would be through a 10-year legacy. And I feel like I'm honestly looking for these optimistic sports stories as I've always done. Manny, could I show this to the camera? So this is Shipshankarpatra. So this was him during the day of the event, and this was on the at the start of the day. So he was ready, and that's a picture of his house.
SPEAKER_01I remember that house, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's a picture of his house, and he was going with this photo frame to give to Messi, and he was dressed in his finest attire. So that was the start of the day. At that point, I was worried that he might not be able to meet the hero of his life, and he's dedicated a lot of his life to celebrate Leo Messi. And I was worried that I was never gonna get a picture of him with Messi, but like the next day, I was pleasantly surprised. I'll show you the next picture.
SPEAKER_01I think one of them- Are you wearing a Brightling watch or a Rolex? Goodness me, I'm going into the tea selling business. Have a look.
SPEAKER_00There are some there are some famous tea sellers in India. I'm going into the tea selling business. So this Chai Walla. Yeah, exactly. So this was him. Joe Morrison Chai Walla. Do you think it has a ring to it? I think so. Chai football will take a new meaning after that. Yeah, exactly. But then uh there's this picture amidst all of the chaos that he actually So this was at Salt Lake, was it?
SPEAKER_01Sata Drew Dutta initiative. Where was that?
SPEAKER_00So these were like photo ops, I think, that took place outside of the stadium because inside the stadium there was No, but that looks like it's on a stake, because there's there's a a backdrop.
SPEAKER_01There's a um like a branded backdrop. So I wonder if that wasn't Calcutta.
SPEAKER_00But yeah, so I like in my in my opinion, like at least I'm gonna remember these stories that came out. And this thing, I don't think like this story, I'm gonna actually make a little video about this as well, about the positive of Kolkata, and there weren't many, but there was this, and I think I would like to remember these stories as well from the three days.
SPEAKER_01I wish I could say the same,
A Superfan Finally Meets Messi
SPEAKER_01and I think they have a place, these trips, the these tours. I think they should be more like the Maradona one. Remember Pele? Most most certainly young viewers of this podcast will not know, and probably well, they certainly won't remember, but they'll I don't think you even know.
SPEAKER_00You met him, right?
SPEAKER_01Pele, yeah. I met Pele, Maradona, and Messi. I think it was the 1970s, I think it was the early 70s. Pele did a kind of trip to India, and obviously Maradona's done trips to India as well. But there was when they finished playing, you know? Yeah, it was after their careers, it was when they retired, and I think that's the place that they should have. But again, it comes down to how much money are you paying these guys? Like to to use the retirement thing, Messi wouldn't have to come for sixteen and a half million dollars or eight million dollars 20 years from now. It'd be a lot less, and you'd probably get the same value out of it. He's World Cup winner, greatest player to to grace the game. So, you know, why why now?
SPEAKER_00Fair question. I think that's a good way to end this because um I want to know what will happen 10 years from now. How will this be remembered? So we'll see you in the next episode, 10 years from now, to continue this conversation. Thanks for tuning, and thank you, Show.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, Manus. Mehrew,