Football rivalries — both on and off the field — hit headlines in all sorts of ways. However, one such rivalry took a turn for the worst Sunday morning.
Mumbai witnessed two Nigerian residents getting into a physical altercation leading to murder Sunday. The topic of their altercation was: "Who is better, Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi?"
Nigerian resident Obinna Michael Durumchukwu, who was in India on a student visa, was murdered the day after he celebrated his 34th birthday, reportedly by fellow Nigerian Chukwuma Nwabu, over a topic fans, critics as well as players and coaches have discussed and debated for close to a decade now. Michael was a Lionel Messi fan, while Nwabu is a fan of Cristiano Ronaldo.
It was all well and good during Michael's birthday on Saturday, as a group of Nigerian friends assembled at his home in Nallasopara East to celebrate the occasion.
The next morning, a discussion between Michael and 22-year-old Nwabu about who was better between Messi and Ronaldo turned into a bloody altercation. NDTV claimed the argument broke out some time between 9.30 and 10 a.m. IST, and soon descended into an exchange of expletives.
Subsequently, Nwabu attacked Michael with a glass tumbler which missed the latter and smashed straight into the wall. Nwabu then picked up a shard from the tumbler and stabbed Michael in the throat with it.
The commotion woke up the owner of the flat and he acted swiftly, calling the Tulinj police station. The cops arrived and arrested Nwabu. Michael's body was sent for post-mortem examination.
"We have arrested the accused for murder and are investigating whether the murder was actually the outcome of a minor argument," Kiran Kabade of the Tulinj police station told the TV channel.
