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Lionel Messi’s India tour kicks off on Saturday as fans throw objects, tear seats and attack the pipe at Kolkata’s Vivekananda yuba bharati Krirangan, also known Salt Lake Stadium, after the Argentine Soccer Great only made a brief appearance at the ticket event.
Satadru Dutta, the chief organizer of the event, was arrested by the police, said Rajeev kumar, director general of West Bengal Police.
Messi was scheduled to visit the stadium for 45 minutes, but his appearance lasted only 20 minutes. Tickets for the event are priced from about 3,500 rupees ($53.44 CDN) – More than half of India’s weekly income – but one person leaves US 130 ($180 CDN).
Fans at the stadium, located in the capital of North West Bengal state, threw torn chairs and other objects onto the field, while several people climbed the fence around the field and threw objects.
“I can’t believe there is so much misbehavior,” said Eddie Lal Hmangaihzuala, who had traveled about 1,500 kilometers from Mizoram over two days to attend the event.
“Messi left immediately, I think he felt unsafe. I didn’t show him,” he told Reuters.
TOUR organizers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
“We have already caught the main instigator,” West BENDE police told reporters. “We are taking action so that this misconduct goes unpunished.”
He also added, “he has promised to write that the tickets sold for this event should be returned.”
Messi is in India as part of a tour where he is scheduled to attend concerts, youth football clinics and a padel tournament, as well as launch the initiative at events in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi.
The chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, apologized to Messi and ordered him to step down from the incident.
“I am deeply disturbed and appalled by the misbehavior witnessed today at the Salt Lake Stadium,” Banerjee, who was on her way to an event when the chaos broke out on social media site X.
“I sincerely apologize to Lionel Messi, and to all sports lovers and his fans, for the unfortunate incident,” he said.
Banerjee said they have formed a committee to conduct a detailed investigation into the incident, assign responsibility and recommend measures to prevent such incidents in the future.
West Bengal, Korala and Goa say there has long been a big football following in cricket-crazed India.
Many incidents of fan rivalry have taken place at the Salt Lake Stadium, including during the Kolkata Derby Magan between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan in 2012, which was abandoned after bricks were thrown at a player.
Argentine Soccer Great Diego Maradona visited Kolkata twice, and in 2017 he unveiled a photo of himself holding the World Cup in front of thousands of fans.
Messi, who fired Argentina for the first time in a friendly at the Salt Lake Stadium in Venezuela in 2011, is likely to have his tall five statues unveiled in Kolkata early on Saturday.