Lionel Messi’s visit to a stadium in Calcutta, India, ended this Saturday (13/12/2025) with the early departure of the player and riots, with spectators denouncing a fraud by the organization of the event, whose head was arrested by the police. The central government described the event as “looting” and accused the organizers of charging high prices for a show that lasted just 22 minutes and ended with the footballer’s emergency evacuation.
The 38-year-old India-revered player, who was with the Asian giants until Monday, was greeted in style by enthusiastic fans chanting his name upon his arrival at the West Bengal stadium this Saturday. To celebrate his arrival, a statue of Messi was erected in the city. Hours later, thousands of fans wearing the player’s jerseys gathered at the Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta, in the east of the country. They felt betrayed by the shortness of the event and incidents occurred.
Obligation to refund the money for the tickets
According to local media, the World Cup winner walked across the pitch to greet the crowd and then immediately left the stadium, even though he was due to play for a few more minutes. The anger of some fans, many of whom had paid more than $100, then erupted. They tore up seats and threw them and water bottles onto the grass. Some invaded the field.
“Seeing Messi was a dream. But I didn’t get a chance to see him because of the disorganization in the stadium,” 37-year-old businessman Nabin Chatterjee complained to AFP. “I came with my son to see Messi, not to see politicians,” Ajay Shah fumed, quoted by the Indian press agency PTI. According to him, although he could not see the star, police and soldiers responsible for his security took “selfies” with the player.
Police have arrested the main organizer of Lionel Messi’s visit to Kolkata and confirmed that a written undertaking was sought to refund ticket money to the thousands of fans affected by the chaos at the event. The police intervention comes hours after West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee publicly apologized and ordered the setting up of a committee to investigate the mismanagement.
LGC (AFP, EFE)
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