🤬 Messi disaster in India: stadium violence, organiser ARRESTED🚔 | OneFootball

Messi was supposed to be the star of a celebration dedicated to him in India: the unveiling of his own statue, 20 meters tall. However, his presence in Kolkata turned out to be an organizational disaster.

Messi’s arrival at the airport was greeted by thousands of people (as we reported in this article), but once he entered the Yuva Bharati Krirangan Stadium in Kolkata, problems began.

Messi stays in the stadium for 15 minutes, furious fans 🤬

Around 11:45 local time, Messi entered the stadium, greeted some VIPs, and took a few photos at the center of the field. However, his safety was put at risk by a security breach, which forced the player and others present to leave the stadium just fifteen minutes after his arrival.

At that point, the entire stadium began to protest, throwing chairs onto the field, invading the pitch, and literally breaking everything they could. The video even shows an attempt to break through the tunnel roof with makeshift sticks.

Tickets for this event started at 4,000 Rupees and went up to 15,000, an extremely high amount considering the average salary in Kolkata (India). That is, from 1/4 up to 3/4 of the average local salary.

🤯 Organizer arrested: it’s a global scandal

The Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, officially apologized to those present and to Messi himself, and also promised that the money would be refunded to the fans. This is a difficult promise to keep, since, according to IndiaToday, many of the tickets were sold through illegal re-selling practices.

Several local politicians commented on the incident, calling it a terrible image for the country. The state’s political opposition party also called for the resignation of the Minister of Sport.

Furthermore, as IndiaToday also reports, the event organizer Satadru Dutta was first taken by the police and then arrested.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.

📸 DIBYANGSHU SARKAR - AFP or licensors