‘Still don’t understand why he met influencers’ – David Beckham not meeting the Indian Football Team on his visit to India SPLITS fans

Some fans pointed out that Team India are in Kuwait for World Cup qualifiers.

‘Still don’t understand why he met influencers’ – David Beckham not meeting the Indian Football Team on his visit to India SPLITS fans

David Beckham and the Indian Football Team (via Telegraph)

English football legend, David Beckham recently visited India as a part of UNICEF’s campaign during the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup 2023. As a part of his trip, he visited several important places but was criticized by football fans for not taking time out to interact with the Indian football team.

David Beckham’s visit to India coupled with his presence at the Cricket World Cup semi-final between India and New Zealand. Following this, Bollywood actress Sonam Kapoor and her husband hosted a dinner for him, where many more celebrities were present. He also spent some time meeting digital content creators and online influencers at the META office in Mumbai, which received some harsh criticism.

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Social media users criticized Beckham for meeting influencers, calling it unnecessary. Former Indian footballer Syed Rahim Nabi believed Beckham could have positively impacted Indian football if he had spent time with local football figures. Nabi expressed disappointment in the AIFF for not facilitating such interactions. This concern echoed when Ronaldinho visited Kolkata and focused on inaugurating Durga Puja instead of engaging with football. However, Beckham did meet with Indian women’s team goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan.

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Many fans expressed their support for Beckham’s decision to not meet the Indian national football team. They pointed out that Team India are currently playing the World Cup qualifiers in Kuwait and have been there for a week. They stated that David was in representation of UNICEF and Meta and was not entitled to meet the football team, adding to the fact that he had to fulfil contractual obligations set by these organisations.

‘X’ users react outraged by David Beckham

During his three-day trip, David Beckham received a warm welcome in Mumbai, with a lavish party hosted by Bollywood star Sonam Kapoor. He also visited the Wankhede Stadium to watch the ICC Cricket World Cup semifinals and met with digital content creators and social media influencers at META’s Mumbai office.

David Beckham at META event
David Beckham at META (via Social Nation)

His meeting schedule and the non-inclusion of an interaction between him and India’s football team players sparked a heated debate on X. Here are some of the reactions:

https://twitter.com/ThatBrownDoode/status/1725852814575067362
https://twitter.com/FhsvvPr/status/1726080656680091944

Emotions ran high as David Beckham visited India and interacted with young Indian fans. His visit comes in the backdrop of some high-profile recent visits by popular world footballers, which included Brazilian legend, Ronaldinho’s Kolkata visit in October this year.

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