Thousands of supporters protested inside the Salt Lake stadium on Saturday, ruining what was supposed to be a once-in-a-lifetime football spectacular for Kolkata, when they were unable to get a good look at Argentine legend Lionel Messi despite purchasing expensive tickets.
Messi’s much-anticipated visit to the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan—his first time there since 2011—turned into a chaotic event marked by vandalism, crowd violations, and hurried police intervention, clouding an event that was supposed to be a celebration of one of football’s biggest international stars.
To break up the gathering on the field, the police resorted to use batons.
Around 11.30 am, the World Cup-winning captain arrived at the stadium with Argentine teammate Rodrigo De Paul and longtime strike partner Luis Suárez.
His car was parked close to the touchline, and as soon as he entered the field, a throng of VIPs, organizers, celebrities, and security guards surrounded him, making it difficult for regular fans in the galleries to see him.
Chants of “Messi, Messi” reverberated throughout the stadium as Messi strolled a little distance on the field and gave a quick wave to the spectators.
However, fans quickly discovered that the football player was still firmly ring-fenced by security and invited guests, making it difficult to see him from a significant portion of the galleries. Even the enormous screens, according to many, did not provide a clear view.
Frustration grew quickly. As it became clear that the Argentine star would not do the entire stadium lap that had been part of the original schedule, chants of “We want Messi” increased louder.
Rather, Messi reversed course in the middle of his appearance and was led out considerably ahead of schedule. Anger erupted as word got out that Messi had left the field early.
Plastic chairs and bottles started to fly from the galleries onto the field. Fiberglass chairs were damaged, sponsor banners and hoardings were destroyed, and some spectators tried to break through barriers to get onto the field.
Witnesses reported that as the unrest grew, several members of the crowd chanted chants calling for the arrest of Shatadru Datta, the event organizer, and state Sports Minister Aroop Biswas for what they claimed was egregious mismanagement of the high-profile event.
Additionally, they claimed that shortly after Messi’s departure, organizers, including promoter Shatadru Datta and his team, were no longer visible on the ground, which made the situation worse.
Even as irate spectators continued to yell slogans against the organizers and the state sports department, repeated calls over the public address system urging unauthorized people to leave the field were mostly ignored.
Hundreds of onlookers poured onto the field in a matter of minutes, destroying makeshift tents and causing damage to equipment along the boundary line.
The Rapid Action Force (RAF) was sent inside the stadium after police officers were unable to control the growing crowd.
Many fans arrived early in the morning in the hopes of getting a close-up look at the football great, and tickets for the event ranged from Rs 4,500 to Rs 10,000.
A number of invited celebrities, including Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, were unable to attend as scheduled due to the pandemonium.
According to police sources, the only reason the situation did not completely get out of hand was because Messi was taken out of the stadium ahead of time and more security personnel were hurried in.
The scenes of shattered seats, torn flags, and irate supporters painted a somber tale for a city that takes great pride in its rich football history.
With less Messi and more chaos at one of India’s biggest football grounds, what was supposed to be a red-letter day for the “City of Joy” turned out to be a cautionary story.
