After Sunil Chhetri's Humble Appeal to Football Fans, All Tickets at Mumbai Stadium Sold Out
Mumbai, June 4: Miraculous change in the minds of football fans in India, tickets to the match between India and Kenya have officially been sold out.
Sunil Chhetri, skipper of the Indian football team, recently made a heartfelt plea to all the fans of Lionel Messi, Neymar, and Cristiano Ronaldo-- "abuse us, criticise us but please come to watch the Indian national team play."
The skipper who scored his third international hat-trick in-front of a near-empty Mumbai Football Arena (MFA) stand asked fans to come to the stadium, even if they want to criticise the Indian football team.
"To all of you, who have lost hope or don't have any hope in Indian football, we request you to come and watch us in the stadium," the skipper said.
This is nothing but a small plea from me to you. Take out a little time and give me a listen. pic.twitter.com/fcOA3qPH8i
— Sunil Chhetri (@chetrisunil11) June 2, 2018
Chhetri also had a request for all the arm-chair critics of Indian football -- please abuse but make the 'Blue Tigers' feel relevant. "I mean it's not fun to criticise and abuse on internet. Come to the stadium, do it on our face, scream at us, shout at us, abuse us, who knows one day we might change you guys, you might start cheering for us. You guys have no idea how important you guys are and how important your support is," the skipper appealed.
Following Chhetri's video, Indian cricketer Virat Kohli took to social media and asked everyone to show support.
In his video message, Virat Kohli said, “In support of what my good friend and Indian captain Sunil Chhetri posted sometime back, I want to request everyone to go and watch Indian football play. Anyone who loves any kind of sport, go and cheer for the team in the stadiums because they are working hard, they are a talented team and I have seen these players evolve and learn over the last few seasons and get so much better at their game.”
Please take notice of my good friend and Indian football skipper @chetrisunil11's post and please make an effort. pic.twitter.com/DpvW6yDq1n
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) June 2, 2018
As the word spread, Indian Internet came to the rescue. Famous YouTubers such as Nikunj Lotia (@BeYouNick) and Prajakta Koli (@mostlysane) came out in support of Chhetri and asked their fans to support the national football team.
In fact, @BeYouNick bought an entire stand and asked football lovers to attend the match free of cost.
Legend ? can I have tickets pls ??? https://t.co/OysLcazVVc
— Sania Mirza (@MirzaSania) June 3, 2018
What happened next will bring a smile to your face.The Intercontinental cup match between India and Kenya at the Mumbai Football arena on 4th June has officially sold out.
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Congress cites Maniben Patel's diary entries, asks Rajnath to apologise for Babri claim
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Saturday shared diary entries of Vallabhbhai Patel's daughter from a book to rebut Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's claim that India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds, and demanded that Singh apologise for spreading "falsehoods".
Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, claimed the defence minister was spreading falsehoods to “improve his relationship” with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Here is Maniben's original diary entry in Gujarati on pages 212-213 in the book ‘Samarpit Padchhayo Sardarno’ by CA R S Patel 'Aaresh', published by Sardar Patel Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Society, 2025,” Ramesh said on X, sharing screenshots of the relevant pages from the book.
“There is a huge difference between what is contained in the original diary entry and what Rajnath Singh ji and his fellow ‘distorians’ are propagating,” Ramesh said.
“The Defence Minister must apologise for the falsehoods he is spreading, simply to improve his relationship with the PM,” he claimed.
The Congress had earlier termed Singh's claim that Nehru wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds a “lie” and “WhatsApp university story”, and said the defence minister should not walk in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's path.
Addressing a gathering at Sadhli village in Gujarat's Vadodara district last Tuesday, Singh said Nehru wanted to build the Babri masjid using public funds, but Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel didn't allow his plans to succeed.
The BJP had cited a book by Vallabhbhai Patel's daughter to double down on Singh's claims, and said the first prime minister also said he felt "repelled" by some of the temples in south India despite their beauty.
“The source of what Rajnath Singh said is the 'Inside Story of Sardar Patel, Diary of Maniben Patel'," BJP Rajya Sabha MP and national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi had said at a press conference at the party headquarters while responding to media queries on the issue.
Trivedi claimed that on Page 24 of the book, it is written that Nehru also raised the question of the Babri mosque, but Sardar Patel made it clear that the government could not spend any money on building a mosque.
