Football star Lionel Messi is set to visit India for a special three-day "GOAT Tour" alongside his Inter Miami teammates Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul.
The GOAT Tour will kick off in Kolkata at 10:30 am local time on Saturday, December 13 and will then continue to Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.
As part of the tour, the eight-time Ballon d'Or winner will unveil a 70 feet tall statue of himself, which took 27 days to built with a team of 45 people in Kolkata.
The statue, which depicts Messi holding the FIFA World Cup trophy has been completed by the Sree Bhumi Sporting Club in Lake Town, South Dum Dum, Kolkata.
In addition to the statue, India is celebrating Messi with the "Hola Messi" fan zone, where fans can see a life-sized replica of Messi on a throne, a hall displaying some of his trophies and a replica of his Miami home with mannequins of Messi and his family sitting on a balcony, as per BBC Sports.
The statue is claimed to be the tallest statue of any footballer in the world.
West Bengal Minister and Sree Bhumi Sporting Club president Sujit Bose said in a statement, noting, “This is a very big statue, 70 foot in height. There is no other statue of Messi this big in the world. Messi is coming to Kolkata, and there are a lot of fans of Messi," as per Public TV.
Messi was also honoured with a bronze statue in Buenos Aires in 2016 and Barcelona is also planning a statue for him at the Nou Camp.
