Chaos at Messi show in Kolkata

calcutta: Billed as the caprine animal present, Lionel Messi’s trip up to republic of india started in absolute chaos, the Argentina skipper and World Cup winner being forced to leave Salt Lake stadium after 20 minutes.

In scenes reminiscent of the 1996 cricket World Cup semi-final between India and Sri Lanka at Eden Gardens, water bottles and other missiles rained on the manicured football pitch and crowd, denied a chance to get a clear glimpse of the legend, broke through the barricades to storm on to the turf.

Chairs were thrown on to the ground as the police struggled to control an angry crowd, most of whom had paid between ₹4000 to ₹18,000 to watch Messi. The damage caused to the stadium, refurbished for the 2017 under-17 World Cup, was huge.

Their anger was directed at around 100 people, among them the state sports minister Aroop Biswas, Mohun Bagan president Debasish Dutta and general secretary Srinjoy Biswas, surrounding Messi, Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul as they entered the stadium at 11.30am. Many of them had fetched up hours before wearing Argentina, Barcelona and Inter Miami shirts and scarves to see Messi. Denied the chance, they caused mayhem.

The cauldron shook with chants of “Messi, Messi” as the white SUV with a sun-roof entered reached the athletic track. The first hint of chaos came with the superstar being surrounded by people who had on-pitch access. The tour organiser, Satadru Dutta, was heard repeatedly asking the people surrounding Messi and his friends to move away.

“People have paid a lot of money to come and see Messi,” Dutta was heard saying in Bangla on the stadium public address system. But his pleas were ignored in the rush to be in the vicinity of a legend and the need to validate that with a selfie.

All the people in the stands could see of Messi was what was shown on the giant screen. “Messi will leave the stadium if people around him are not cleared,” Satadru Dutta was heard saying. Again, he was ignored.

Messi met former Kolkata club players who had lined-up for a friendly match, which was part of the programme. As the stadium roared, he waved to the crowd. The roar got louder.

But everywhere the Argentina skipper went, he was surrounded by people. Biswas was seen posing for a photograph and in the chaos, Debasish Dutta and Bose handed him a Mohun Bagan shirt.

By then, boos were circulating the stadium. A short while later, Messi left. And then, people started pouring onto the pitch and hurling chairs and water bottles. As this dispatch was being filed, the pitch was full of people who had made their way from the stands.

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