Watch: Rahul Gandhi meets Lionel Messi in Hyderabad, receives signed jersey

Rahul Gandhi with Messi.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi met Argentine football legend Lionel Messi in Hyderabad on Saturday during the second leg of the GOAT India Tour 2025. The football icon gifted a signed jersey to the Congress MP as the two briefly interacted at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium.

Addressing fans in Hyderabad, Messi thanked them for the warmth and support he received. “The truth is that I’ve seen a lot of things before getting here, throughout this whole time, during the last World Cup. Honestly, thank you so much for all this love. It’s an honour for us to share these days here in India with you,” he said.

VIDEO | Telangana: Hyderabad: Argentine football icon Lionel Messi interacts with Rahul Gandhi at Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. (Source: Third Party)#MessiInIndia#Hyderabad#Telanganapic.twitter.com/2w20Y2aiai

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 13, 2025

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy was also present at the event and was seen spending a few moments on the ground with Messi, casually exchanging passes before Gandhi’s arrival.

The Hyderabad event stood in sharp contrast to the chaotic first leg of Messi’s tour in Kolkata, which ended abruptly amid crowd unrest and allegations of mismanagement. At Salt Lake Stadium, nearly 50,000 fans, many of whom paid between Rs 4,000 and Rs 12,000 for tickets, and in some cases up to Rs 20,000 on the black market, were left disappointed as Messi was surrounded by politicians, VVIPs and heavy security.

Visuals from the stadium showed angry spectators throwing bottles, food packets and even chairs onto the field, raising serious questions over crowd control and security lapses. Fibreglass seats were ripped out, and parts of the pitch and synthetic track were left damaged as the situation spiralled out of control.