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Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo fan row leads to stabbing in India

A man has been charged with murdering his friend after the two had argued over whether Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo was the world's best footballer, police in India told AFP.

Officers said the men, both Nigerian nationals, had clashed over the Barcelona and Real Madrid stars.

Inspector Kiran Kabadi said that 21-year-old Michael Chukwuma had been charged over the death of Obina Durumchukwu, 34, in the Mumbai suburb of Nallasopara on Sunday.

They had been celebrating Durumchukwu's birthday on the Saturday night, with the dispute breaking out the following day.

"The two were discussing football players. One is a fan of Messi and the other was for Ronaldo," Inspector Kabadi said.

"The deceased threw a glass into the face of the accused person. The glass broke and caused small injuries.

"After that, the accused took the broken glass and assaulted the deceased person, who died due to heavy bleeding."

Between them, Messi and Ronaldo have dominated the FIFA Ballon d'Or over the past eight years. Messi, 28, won his fifth award as the world's best player in January, while Ronaldo won the most recent of his three prizes in 2015.