Chaos erupted at the Salt Lake Stadium in West Bengal’s Kolkata on Saturday as fans vandalised the venue, alleging poor management after legendary footballer Lionel Messi made a brief public appearance there.
While West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has announced that they have constituted an enquiry committee, Additional Director General (ADG) Law and Order Jawed Shamim, meanwhile, told media that an FIR has been lodged and the chief organiser of the event has been detained.
Messi is in the country from Saturday to Monday for a three-day GOAT (Greatest of All Time) India Tour 2025. He is scheduled to visit Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi for exhibition matches, meet-and-greets and interactions with athletes. Kolkata was the first stop of the tour.
The legendary forward is also joined by his Inter Miami teammate Luis Suárez and Argentine footballer Rodrigo De Paul.
“I was on my way to the stadium to attend the event along with thousands of sports lovers and fans who had gathered to catch a glimpse of their favourite footballer, Lionel Messi,” the chief minister said on social media. “I sincerely apologise to Lionel Messi, as well as to all sports lovers and his fans, for the unfortunate incident.”
She also said that an enquiry committee had been constituted under the chairmanship of retired Justice Ashim Kumar Ray, along with the chief secretary, the additional chief secretary, and home and hill Affairs Department as members.
“The committee will conduct a detailed enquiry into the incident, fix responsibility, and recommend measures to prevent such occurrences in the future,” she added.
West Bengal DGP Rajiv Kumar said that the situation in Kolkata was now “normal”. He says that they have asked the organiser to give in writing that they will refund all the fans for the tickets that were sold. He also mentioned that the organizer Satadru Dutta had been arrested from the airport.
“The Chief Minister has taken cognisance of the incident. It was sheer mismanagement by the organising committee. The organisers are expected to refund the fans. Meanwhile, I request fans to exercise restraint. We have already detained the organiser,” he told the media in Kolkata.
At Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday, thousands of spectators from several parts of the country had arrived to catch a glimpse of Messi whose convoy entered the stadium at 11.30 a.m. However, as the footballers entered the stadium, a crowd of about 70 to 80 persons, including the organisers of the event, state Sports Minister Aroop Biswas and representatives of football clubs, surrounded them.
The spectators on the stands were unable to see Messi as the group surrounding the footballers tried to take selfies and autographs from them. The fans started shouting: “We want Messi.”
However, Messi was taken out of the stadium at about 11.52 am, before Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and actor Shahrukh Khan arrived to greet him.
Following it, chaos ensued as angry spectators started breaking chairs in the stands and throwing them on the field. Bottles were also thrown. The spectators broke the gate along the edge of the field and entered in large numbers. Police officers resorted to lathi-charge to control the crowd.
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