Anadi BaruaNew Delhi, Dec. 21 -- : There is no doubt that Lionel Messi is one of the best footballers of all times, and it is always memorable to host such iconic personalities in our country.
However, his visit, accompanied with Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul in no way helped in promoting sports in general and football in particular in India.
The Messi visit, arranged by private sector players could have been meaningful in the footballing sense had he played a match here against the national team or a local club, like Pele played against Mohun Bagan in 1977. It could also have made sense had he visited some academy and trained budding footballers, or had some social value had he visited and interacted with underprivileged kids.
However...