Kolkata: The chaos that broke out at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday during the program of great football player Lionel Messi turned into a major law and order issue, in which the police took the main organizer into custody on charges of alleged mismanagement, while West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee ordered a high-level inquiry and apologized to the fans who were deprived of seeing this great football player. Asked.
What could have been the happiest experience of life for football fans turned into a bad memory as thousands of fans protested inside the Salt Lake Stadium in frustration at not being able to get a clear glimpse of the Argentinian legend despite spending huge sums of money to buy tickets.
Messi was at the Salt Lake Stadium for the first time since 2011, but it turned out to be a chaotic affair. The event was marred by a mob of fans breaching the security cordon, vandalism and police interference. The event was promoted as a celebration of one of football’s greatest global stars but it turned into complete chaos.
Messi is on a three-day tour of India, which started from Kolkata. His visit is taking place at a time when Indian football is going through its worst phase. India has slipped to 142nd place in the FIFA rankings, which is their worst ranking since 2016. Not only this, even after almost half of the current season has passed, there is no clarity regarding the start of the top domestic football competition (Indian Super League).
World Cup-winning captain Messi reached the stadium at around 11.30 am along with his long-time teammate Luis Suarez and Argentina teammate Rodrigo De Paul. About 50,000 spectators were present in the stadium. As soon as he stepped onto the field, he was surrounded by a crowd of organisers, celebrities and security personnel, leaving the general audience sitting in the gallery yearning for a glimpse. Messi walked a short distance on the field and waved towards the spectators amid chants of ‘Messi, Messi’.
As soon as the news of Messi leaving the field prematurely spread, the spectators became angry. Bottles and then plastic chairs were also thrown in the field. Sponsor banners and hoardings were torn down, a large number of seats were broken and the crowd tried to break barricades to force their way into parts of the ground.
Eyewitnesses said that amid the growing uproar, fans raised slogans demanding the arrest of Biswas and organizer Shatadru Dutta. Fans blamed the organizers for gross mismanagement of the high-profile event. He also said that the situation worsened when the organizers (promoter Shatadru Dutta and his team) stopped appearing on the field immediately after Messi’s exit.