Lionel Messi bids farewell to PSG amid boos
Paris: Lionel Messi didn’t care about the boos in his final game for Paris Saint-Germain as the French league champion lost to Clermont 3-2 on Saturday.
Disrespectful PSG supporters booed Messi when the Parc des Princes announcer read his name on a warm evening. A few minutes later, Messi walked onto the field with a smile on his face, holding his three children’s hands before the team photo and kissing them on their foreheads before kickoff.
“I would like to thank the club, the city of Paris and its people for these two years. I wish you all the best for the future,” Messi told the club website.
In two seasons at PSG, Messi won two French leagues and the French Champions Trophy and notched 32 goals and 35 assists in all competitions.
Messi scored in a 1-1 draw at Strasbourg a week ago to help PSG clinch a record-extending 11th French league title. By notching a 496th career league goal, the Argentine genius also broke Cristiano Ronaldo’s scoring record for Europe’s top five leagues.
The World Cup winner didn’t sign the contract extension that Qatar-backed PSG offered him and has been strongly linked with a move to a Saudi club where he could earn more money than Ronaldo. Inter Miami is another possible option but wouldn’t be able to match the Saudi offer of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Messi tried hard to get on the scoresheet on the final day of the French league. He had a shot parried by Clermont goalkeeper Mory Diaw in the 14th minute, hit a snapshot wide in the 31st and curled a free kick over the bar in the 42nd.
A selfless Kylian Mbappe made a solo run in the 54th to tee up Messi, who blazed over the bar. Messi nearly found the net in the 59th but Diaw turned his low drive around the post. Diaw denied Messi again in stoppage time, palming away a free kick.
After the final whistle, Messi hugged his teammates and shook hands with the Clermont players.
PSG took a 2-0 lead with a header from the departing Sergio Ramos in the 16th and a penalty from Mbappe in the 21st.
But Clermont leveled before halftime with goals by Johan Gatien and Mehdi Zeffane.
Grejohn Kyei scored the winner by converting a cross in the 63rd.
Despite his aging legs, Messi has produced moments of magic this season; an overhead kick against Clermont last August, a ball over the top for Mbappe to score against Lille in August that was the joint-fastest goal in the league, a free kick in stoppage time to beat Lille in February, and a perfectly timed throughball for Mbappe against Brest in March.
There were hopes Messi would stay another year in Paris after expressing his happiness at the club in March.
“Yes, it’s true that I feel very well,” Messi told the club website. “The first year, I needed a little time to adapt to Paris for different reasons, but I started this season really differently, with a lot of desire. I feel more comfortable with the club, with the city, with everything that Paris means. And the truth is that I am really enjoying this season.”
But the mood changed after PSG’s exit in the last 16 of the Champions League.
Messi was expected to be the missing piece of the puzzle for the club in the quest for a first Champions League trophy. But PSG lacked the structure and balance of the Argentina team where Julian Alvarez up front and Rodrigo De Paul on the right wing did the dirty work for Messi.
PSG fans have jeered Messi in the past couple of months as his form dipped after he helped Argentina win the World Cup.
Then relations with the club deteriorated last month when Messi was suspended by PSG after an unauthorized trip to Saudi Arabia. Messi has a commercial contract with Saudi Arabia to promote tourism in that country.
Despite the embarrassment for Qatar, PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi seemed to show no hard feelings on Saturday.
“His contribution to Paris Saint-Germain and Ligue 1 cannot be understated and we wish Leo and his family all the best for the future,” Al-Khelaifi told the club website.
تكفون لا بتدفعون لذا ٢ مليار #Messi pic.twitter.com/0x4poTtmzG
— k (@22Pink_poison) June 3, 2023
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Deep societal faultlines persist despite 75 years of independence: Justice Ujjal Bhuyan
Judge cites denial of home to Muslim girl, opposition to Dalit women cooking mid-day meals
Hyderabad, February 23, 2026: Supreme Court judge Justice Ujjal Bhuyan has said that despite repeated affirmations of constitutional morality by courts, deep societal faultlines rooted in caste and religious discrimination continue to shape everyday realities in India.
Speaking at a seminar on “Constitutional Morality and the Role of District Judiciary” organised by the Telangana Judges Association and the Telangana State Judicial Academy in Hyderabad, Justice Bhuyan reflected on the gap between constitutional ideals and social practices.
He cited a recent instance involving his daughter’s friend, a PhD scholar at a private university in Noida, who was denied accommodation in South Delhi after her surname revealed her Muslim identity. According to Justice Bhuyan, the landlady bluntly informed her that no accommodation was available once her religious background became known.
In another example from Odisha, he referred to resistance by some parents to the government’s mid-day meal programme because the food was prepared by Dalit women employed as cooks. He noted that some parents had objected aggressively and refused to allow their children to consume meals cooked by members of the Scheduled Caste community.
Describing these incidents as “the tip of the iceberg,” Justice Bhuyan said they reveal how far society remains from the benchmark of constitutional morality even 75 years into the Republic. He observed that while the Constitution lays down standards of equality and dignity, the morality practised within homes and communities often diverges sharply from those values.
He emphasised that constitutional morality requires governance through the rule of law rather than the rule of popular opinion. Referring to the evolution of the doctrine through judicial decisions, he cited Naz Foundation v Union of India, in which the Delhi High Court read down Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, holding that popular morality cannot restrict fundamental rights under Article 21. Though the judgment was later overturned in Suresh Kumar Koushal v Naz Foundation, the Supreme Court ultimately restored and expanded the principle in Navtej Singh Johar v Union of India, affirming that constitutional morality must prevail over majoritarian views.
“In our constitutional scheme, it is the constitutionality of the issue before the court that is relevant, not the dominant or popular view,” he said.
Justice Bhuyan also addressed the functioning of the district judiciary, underlining that trial courts are the first point of contact for most litigants and form the foundation of the justice delivery system. He stressed that due importance must be given to the recording of evidence and adjudication of bail matters.
Highlighting the role of High Courts, he said their supervisory jurisdiction under Article 227 of the Constitution is intended as a shield to correct grave jurisdictional errors, not as a mechanism to substitute the discretion or factual appreciation of trial judges.
He recalled that several distinguished judges, including Justice H R Khanna, Justice A M Ahmadi, and Justice Fathima Beevi, began their careers in the district judiciary.
On representation within the judicial system, Justice Bhuyan noted that Telangana has made significant strides in gender inclusion. Out of a sanctioned strength of 655 judicial officers in the Telangana Judicial Service, 478 are currently serving, of whom 283 are women, exceeding 50 per cent representation. He added that members of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, minority communities, and persons with disabilities are also represented in the state’s judiciary.
He observed that greater representation of women, marginalised communities, persons with disabilities, and sexual minorities would help make the judiciary more inclusive and reflective of India’s diversity. “The judiciary must represent all the colours of the rainbow and become a rainbow institution,” he said.
Justice Bhuyan also referred to the recent restoration by the Supreme Court of the requirement of a minimum three years of practice at the Bar for entry-level judicial posts. While acknowledging that the requirement ensures practical exposure, he cautioned that its impact on women aspirants, especially those from rural or small-town backgrounds facing social and financial constraints, would need to be carefully observed over time.
Concluding his address, he reiterated that the justice system must strive to bridge the gap between constitutional ideals and lived realities, ensuring that the rule of law remains paramount.
