Calcutta’s dream date with Lionel Messi turned a horror show featuring a visibly annoyed legend, ringed by a swarm of officials and half-celebrities, and angry spectators who, denied even a glimpse of their icon, erupted in vandalism that added a new chapter to the city’s book of shame.
Messi spent a mere 22 minutes on the Salt Lake Stadium pitch, about half the time he was supposed to, during which he walked past only a few of the stands instead of completing a lap.
From the galleries, all that the frustrated fans saw was a throng of heads, with none able to tell where LM10, Luis Suarez or Rodrigo De Paul were.
Those encircling the Argentine, the on-duty police included, were absorbed in clicking selfies with him. At least a couple of times, hands were seen trying to push Suarez and De Paul out of the way to get a clearer selfie with Messi. More than once, the little magician was seen thwarting an uninvited hand that came at him.
As Messi was about to leave the stadium abruptly, a water bottle from the stands landed close to him.
Spectators ripped the seats and tossed them around. Within minutes, thousands stormed down the stairs and shook the iron fencing — separating the pitch from the galleries — so vigorously that it gave way.
The crowd invaded the pitch and set fire to a canopy and a plush sofa meant to seat the so-called VIP guests. The police carried out a baton charge.
Hours later, the main organiser of the event, Satadru Dutta, was arrested dramatically after he and Messi had boarded a chartered flight to Hyderabad, the next stop on the GOAT Tour.
Messi was supposed to fly out of Calcutta at 2.15pm but he reached the airport by 1 following the stadium fiasco. Airport sources said the plane was barred from taking off as the state government wanted Dutta out.
After several rounds of back and forth, Dutta stepped out of the plane at 2.15pm and was arrested, the sources said.
Messi flew out of the city at 2.34pm.
The police said Saturday’s show was a “private event”. But the expected presence of heavyweight ministers, and the chief minister herself, had lent it a heft usually associated with government programmes.
Dutta was arrested based on specific complaints, the police said.
At a news conference later in the afternoon, Bengal police chief Rajeev Kumar said the organiser had been asked to refund the tickets and give an undertaking in writing, failing which he would face legal action.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who was supposed to felicitate Messi, had almost reached the stadium when her convoy turned back, following police inputs.
Multiple Trinamool leaders said they could not recall the last time their leader, known for her people skills, had to return without attending a scheduled public event.
Mamata apologised for the fiasco.
“I sincerely apologise to Lionel Messi, as well as to all sports lovers and his fans, for the unfortunate incident. Deeply disturbed and shocked by the mismanagement witnessed today at Salt Lake Stadium,” she posted on X.
“I was on my way to the stadium to attend the event along with thousands of sports lovers and fans who had gathered to catch a glimpse of their favourite footballer, Lionel Messi.”
The chief minister set up a panel, headed by Justice (Retd) Ashim Kumar Ray, to probe the mismanagement and the resulting chaos. Bengal’s chief secretary and home secretary are the other members of the panel.
Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan had reached the stadium for the programme but did not step out of his car, sensing the situation inside.
The day had begun with thousands chanting “Viva Messi” and “Olé, Olé” as they made their way to the stadium, which was drenched in La Albiceleste’s colours, blue and white.
Messi stepped into the stadium around 11.30am but the galleries had been packed by 9. Many of the fans came from states hundreds of miles away.
A boy in a wheelchair had come with his father from Kalyani, having left their home at 5.30am. A fan from Bankura left his home at daybreak and reached the stadium by 8am.
At a popular Park Street restaurant, a group of diners met a man from Singapore who had come to Calcutta just to catch a glimpse of Messi.
By afternoon, the fans’ anger had given way to sadness as they trooped out of the stadium.
Shlok Bang, a Class VI student, sobbed outside Gate 4 as he waited for an app cab with his parents and younger sister, Saanvi. The family had flown in from Visakhapatnam to see Messi.
“He is a diehard fan. We spent close to ₹50,000 on the tickets, apart from the hotel and other expenses here. What a shame!” said Sharad, Shlok’s father.
“We could not spot Messi because of the large number of people surrounding him. Why were canopies put up on the ground?” Sharad fumed as his wife tried unsuccessfully to console their son.
Junaid Alam, his wife Nikhat Sultana and their two sons Ibrahim and Yousef — students of Class VI and II at La Martiniere for Boys — were waiting for their car outside the stadium.
“Messi was getting mobbed by the organisers themselves. We did not come here to see him on a giant screen,” Junaid said.
“The organisers should be sued because the tickets promised a Messi masterclass with young talents and penalty shootouts involving Messi. None of these happened.”
A programme that preceded the stadium event saw Messi remotely inaugurate a 70ft statue of himself at Lake Town. This, too, was marked by disorder with scores of people surrounding Messi without any apparent reason.
Later at the stadium, where Messi was supposed to be the star, many others tried to hog the limelight. Among them was sports minister Aroop Biswas who seemed to have glued himself to the football great.
Social media was abuzz with the question why Biswas should be spared when the chief organiser had been arrested.
By late afternoon, memes featuring Biswas’s life-size image against the official backdrop of the GOAT Tour had flooded social media.
“We did not spend so much money to see Aroop Biswas. We went there for Messi,” said a dejected fan who had come from Phoolbagan in Calcutta.
Biswas told reporters: “I will not comment. A probe is going on.”
According to a member of one of the broadcasting crews, Messi’s security team wasn’t too comfortable with so many people surrounding him and trying to click selfies with him.
“Messi, Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul were initially in a light mood. But things worsened when a bottle or two landed close to the star. That’s when his security team decided that enough was enough,” the crew member said.
The police had said on Thursday that visitors would not be allowed in with water bottles. When the stadium witnessed a barrage of plastic water bottles landing on the ground, many wondered where the “missiles” had come from.
It then emerged that the spectators had not sneaked the bottles in, the organisers had. Spectators said they had bought a litre of bottled drinking water at over ₹150 inside the stadium. The price crept up as the programme progressed.
Additional reporting by Sayak Banerjee