Messy affair: Fans showed their frustration by vandalising the Salt Lake Stadium.
| Photo Credit: DEBASISH BHADURI
Lionel Messi’s GOAT India Tour turned ugly at its first stop in Kolkata as poor crowd management at the Salt Lake Stadium left thousands of fans frustrated.
Messi arrived at the Salt Lake Stadium with Inter Miami teammates Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul but was surrounded by hordes of VVIPS, including West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas, organiser Satadru Dutta, Mohun Bagan Athletic Club executives Srinjoy Bose and Debasish Dutta, and a heavy police presence. Scheduled football clinics didn’t happen and fans barely got a view of their idol.
“We have been at the gates since around 8 a.m., and the sheer mismanagement by the organisers was very disappointing. The number of VIPs around him made it impossible to see him,” Sanmoy Saha, a fan at the stadium, told The Hindu.
“There were more people around him than in a Durga Puja pandal. It was ridiculous,” Sanmoy added. “The organiser, a fan group called something like Messians of Kolkata, and the Sports Minister were all walking close to him. What about us?”
“It felt like the organisers only wanted their own people to meet Messi,” said Archisman Rakshit, another fan present at the stadium. “The security around Messi struggled to keep people inside the human chain safe. I saw Suarez getting pushed, and Rodrigo De Paul looked visibly annoyed.”
Another fan revealed that he had left his wedding day festivities to be at the venue to catch a glimpse of the Argentinian, while others lamented about coming all the way from places like Guwahati and not getting their money’s worth.
Ticket holders also slammed the ticketing process. “District app’s management was really bad. Everything was digital, but despite showing my payment confirmation, I struggled to enter,” a fan revealed.
With inputs from PTI
Published – December 13, 2025 10:33 pm IST
