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Argentina’s World Cup-winning captain had to leave the field early after widespread chaos at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday. Event organiser Satadru Dutta has been arrested
Smoke erupts after chairs were set on fire amid chaos during an event of Argentine footballer Lionel Messi as part of his ‘G.O.A.T. India Tour 2025’, at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan (VYBK), in Kolkata on December 13, 2025. (Image: PTI)
The eagerly anticipated return of football icon Lionel Messi to Kolkata after 14 years spiralled into pandemonium on Saturday at the Salt Lake Stadium (Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan), transforming a celebratory event into a scene of vandalism, fury, and intense political warfare between the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Several invited dignitaries, including Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly, as well as Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, were unable to participate in the event as planned.
How Chaos Kicked Off
The disaster unfolded when Messi, part of the inaugural leg of his “GOAT India Tour 2025″ along with teammates Luis Suárez and Rodrigo De Paul, made an appearance that was devastatingly brief. Fans, many of whom had shelled out exorbitant sums—tickets reportedly ranged from Rs 4,000 to over Rs 12,000, with some VVIP passes going for much higher—expected a showcase or a celebratory lap. Instead, Messi’s stay lasted a mere 20 minutes, during which he was so heavily surrounded by officials, local politicians, and security staff that thousands of spectators in the stands were unable to catch a proper glimpse of the football legend.
The disappointment quickly curdled into rage. Irate fans began hurling bottles and plastic chairs onto the pitch, uprooting stadium property, and attempting to breach security gates between the stands. The mayhem forced Messi to cut short his appearance and be quickly ushered out, leaving behind a stadium damaged by disappointed supporters who booed officials and chanted slogans. The bedlam led the West Bengal Police to arrest main organiser, Satadru Dutta, and announce that efforts would be made to refund tickets to the disappointed spectators.
Political Row: BJP vs TMC
The chaos immediately detonated a furious political slugfest, with the opposition BJP seizing the opportunity to attack the ruling TMC over the perceived mismanagement and corruption ahead of the West Bengal polls early next year.
Suvendu Adhikari, the BJP’s Leader of the Opposition, launched a scathing attack, branding the event as a “TMC Loot-Fest at Yuva Bharati”. He accused senior TMC ministers and leaders of treating the sporting icon’s visit as their “personal photo-op”, monopolising Messi’s time and crowding him out while genuine, passionate fans were sidelined and left staring at the stadium’s giant screens. Adhikari further alleged that the mismanagement constituted a “criminal assault on West Bengal’s pride” and demanded the immediate resignation of the state’s Sports Minister Arup Biswas and a complete refund for all ticket holders. He urged the governor to order a High Court-led inquiry, stating that only an independent probe could restore faith in governance.
The ruling TMC, while scrambling to contain the damage, shifted the blame squarely onto the organisers, while tacitly acknowledging the administrative failure. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed that she was “deeply disturbed and shocked by the mismanagement” and issued a public apology to Messi and the fans. She immediately constituted a high-level enquiry committee led by a retired Calcutta High Court Judge, Justice Ashim Kumar Ray, and including the Chief Secretary and the Home Secretary, to investigate the incident, fix responsibility, and recommend future measures. However, TMC spokesperson Kunal Ghosh also took aim at the excessive presence of “overzealous” people close to the organisers who prevented fans from seeing the star, thereby obliquely acknowledging the VIP culture that triggered the rage.
Observers say the collapse of the high-profile event has severely damaged the state’s international image and is seen as a major political embarrassment for the TMC, reinforcing the BJP’s narrative of administrative decay and elite corruption in the state ahead of future electoral battles.
Click here to add News18 as your preferred news source on Google. December 13, 2025, 20:43 IST
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