Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google, is known to be an avid football enthusiast.
Hailing from Tamil Nadu, India, Pichai joined Google in 2004 and in 2015, he was appointed as the CEO of the company. In 2019, he was promoted as the CEO of Alphabet Inc.
Pichai is a passionate follower of football and is extremely vocal about his love for FC Barcelona and their former captain Lionel Messi on social media. In fact, Pichai was invited by the Catalan giants in 2017 to visit Camp Nou and the club's facilities.
The Alphabet CEO has been following the sport since the 1980s. He once mentioned that he followed the Brazilian team in the 1980s when they had stars like Zico and Socrates.
Here are five instances when Sundar Pichai showed that he is a passionate football fan.
Trip to Camp Nou
In 2017, Pichai got to meet his favourite players at their den when he visited the Camp Nou and got a glimpse of the likes of Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez train. He got a tour of Barcelona's facilities guided by then club president Josep Bartomeu. After the team's training session he even met all the players personally and got their autographs on his personalised Barcelona jersey presented by the club to him.
Led tributes to Messi after Copa America 2021 triumph
Sundar Pichai follows Messi not just in club football but he also watches him play for Argentina in international football. After Lionel Messi's Argentina lifted the Copa America title in June 2021 beating Brazil in the final, Pichai took Twitter to congratulate La Albiceleste and Messi. He even called Messi 'arguably the best ever.'
Congratulated USWNT after 2019 World Cup win
Not just men's football, but Sundar Pichai follows women's football closely. After the USA Women's National Soccer Team (USWNT) won the 2019 Women's World Cup, he had tweeted congratulating Megan Rapinoe and co.
Following football since 1980s
Sundar Pichai also took to twitter when Sepp Blatter stepped down as FIFA President in June 2015. He said that he had been an ardent follower of football ever since the 1980s, having been a fan of the Brazilian team which had stars like Zico and Socrates. He claimed that Blatter stepping down from FIFA was a good development for the sport.
Took a dig at Real Madrid fans
Like any other Barcelona fanatic, Sundar Pichai takes pride in disliking the club's fiercest rivals Real Madrid. In 2015, in a Google event named #AskSundar held in India, Pichai had said, "I am a very big Barcelona and a Messi fan." Then addressing Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo fans in the crowd, he said, "I don't know if you saw the recent El Clasico in which Barcelona won 4-0."
He even watched the recent Champions League clash between PSG and Real Madrid. He tweeted hailing Mbappe's goal which helped PSG edge out Madrid.