Big chaos as Lionel Messi’s GOAT Kolkata tour is terminated within 10 minutes!
Messi and his teammates left the field within 10 minutes as boos rang out in the stands!
Lionel Messi, alongside Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul, arrived in India in the early hours of Saturday. The Inter Miami players landed in Kolkata on a private jet to kick off the three-day G.O.A.T. tour event that is scheduled to be held in four cities.
As the buzz grew within the city of joy in the lead up to the event at the VYBK Stadium, a 70-feet statue of the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner was also unveiled in a remote ceremony. However, things took a drastic turn of events once Messi reached the VYBK Stadium.
Fans throw bottles, tear banners in protest as Messi’s G.O.A.T. events are disrupted in Kolkata!
What happened?
The VYBK Stadium opened its gates to the fans at 8:30 AM as supporters thronged in to see Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, and Rodrigo de Paul. Anticipation grew as the trio reached the stadium around 11 am.
Messi and his teammates entered the pitch at around 11:35 AM to the cheers of the jam-packed crowd. The Argentine and his teammates started to do a lap of the stadium; however, this was cut short as ministers and their entourage gathered around Lionel Messi to click selfies and meet him.
This was followed by more ministers and their families surrounding Messi as the situation went out of control. The crowd around Messi was to such an extent that the player was not even visible from the stands.
Given the commotion, Messi requested security to take him back inside within 10 minutes of entering the Salt Lake Stadium pitch. This was met by loud boos from the crowd towards the officials, as they were left heartbroken.
Fans show their displeasure
As Lionel Messi and his teammates were ushered off the pitch by security, the fans lost their patience. There were bottles thrown towards the ministers and officials from the stands and banners were also ripped in the gallery.
The situation escalated to such an extent that police were deployed in the stands and a lathi-charge was also done in a few sections. Though the FC Barcelona legend left the stadium premises, the fans kept chanting “MESSI – MESSI” and “We Want Messi” from the stands.
Fans later invaded the pitch as everything was destroyed, as they were left heartbroken after how everything escalated.
Messi’s G.O.A.T tour terminated in Kolkata within minutes!
Lionel Messi was supposed to meet Shah Rukh Khan and the chief minister of West Bengal, Mamta Banerjee, on the pitch at the VYBK Stadium. However, the entire event has been terminated prematurely.
There was no felicitation or anything on-pitch as Messi and his teammates had to leave due to the chaos. As per the schedule, the Argentine is supposed to fly to Hyderabad as part of the G.O.A.T. Tour with the event set to kick off at 7:30 pm IST today.
Messi reached Kolkata airport quickly after everything escalated. Given the organisation’s failure in Kolkata, it has to be seen what will happen next.
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee reacts
West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee tweets, “…I sincerely apologise to Lionel Messi, as well as to all sports lovers and his fans, for the unfortunate incident. I am constituting an enquiry committee under the chairmanship of Justice (Retd.) Ashim Kumar Ray, with the Chief Secretary and the Additional Chief Secretary, 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.”
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available.
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Aasif, a football fan turned writer, has been writing about the sport since 2020. Based in Chennai, it is no surprise that love for Chennaiyin FC runs in his blood. Apart from Indian football, Aasif has also written and edited articles extensively about European football.