Carles Puyol was the special guest at the FIFA Under-17 World Cup 2017 ticket release ceremony and the event officially kicked off earlier today with the World Cup winner handing the first ticket to the descendant of Mohun Bagan’s 1911 IFA Shield-winning captain.
However, amid the celebrations of an unprecedented event, there was a major mishap caused by the person who writes the speeches for India’s minister of state for sports Vijay Goel, who somewhat proved the inadequacy of his assisting staff by committing certain factual errors in his opening speech to welcome Puyol.
Aided by his speech-writer, Goel committed a whole lot of factual errors that was a source of frustration to the watching public, which comprised fans, officials and media persons. The central sports minister pronounced the name of Andres Iniesta — Barcelona and Spain’s legendary midfield metronome — wrong while addressing the public and introducing them to Puyol. He also mentioned that Puyol won the Champions League in 2006 and 2010, when in fact, he won in 2006, 2009 and 2011.
While he praised the former Barcelona centre-back’s hair-do and admitted to the fact that he is a football convert, having shifted from kho-kho, Goel kicked off proceedings by introducing Puyol and his raft of honours with both club and country. However, being from a background unfamiliar with football, Goel made plenty of silly errors in his speech that left the entire watching public exasperated.
Puyol later played and officiated a short five-a-side game with local kids before heading for some time with his die-hard fans. The former Spain international made himself available for selfies and autographs as the waiting fans were treated to a rare gem of the footballing world in India.
The ex-defender then went on to sign shirts and autographs before heading to his hotel room, but for the waiting masses, it was Goel who added the entertainment factor to the whole event. The central minister, however, also added a few words that underlined the intentions of the World Cup organisers for the upcoming World Cup: “We have made sure the tickets are priced very nominally, you can buy a World Cup ticket for less than fifty rupees, so there is no reason not to come and support this tournament in large numbers”.
Tickets for the Under-17 World Cup will be rolled out at 19.11 hours on 16th May 2017 for the general public to commemorate Bagan’s triumph of 1911.
