Argentina star Lionel Messi’s second visit to Kolkata ended on a sour note on Saturday, echoing a familiar chapter from history when another football legend had visited the city.
Fans, who had paid in thousands for tickets to watch Messi, were disappointed because they couldn’t see who was being escorted by hordes of ministers and VIPs. Not to mention that anyone who could invade the ground, did.
Saturday’s incident brings back memories of a day 48 years ago, on 24 September, 1977, when Edson Arantes do Nascimento aka Pele, arguably the greatest ever to play the beautiful game, visited Kolkata.
Then, Pele’s Cosmos played Mohun Bagan in an exhibition match in front of an 80,000-strong crowd at the Eden Gardens; the result was a 2-2 draw.
The day Pele reached Calcutta the scene was similar to what unfolded in Kolkata on Saturday.
Pele’s Cosmos played Mohun Bagan in an exhibition match in front of an 80,000-strong crowd at the Eden Gardens (The Telegraph Library picture)
What was the fan frenzy like then? For one, it found a mention in a scene from the Bollywood blockbuster Golmaal (1979):
“Jab Black Pearl yaha aya tha na, jaise Rabindranath ko Gurudev, Gandhiji ko Bapu kehte hain na Sir, waise Pele ko Black Pearl kehte hain, what a player sir, what a player,” an interviewee tells Utpal Dutta, the interviewer in the movie.
That was the reel version.
Soumyajit Bhowmick, a former deputy commissioner of Calcutta Customs who was at the airport on duty, then, recalled the real madness.
“It was a stirring day in Calcutta. Pele was to arrive in the city for the first time. Several hundreds thronged the airport. At that time, a stringent security system was neither present nor required at the airport. So reporters,officials, supporters and enthusiasts were all present inside the customs and immigration enclosure. The Union sports minister, some state ministers were also present,” Bhowmick recalled.
Pele is swamped by fans and officials at Calcutta airport (The Telegraph Library picture)
The ministers, the club officials, their cronies, the press and many others – numbering around 1,000 – created a bigger chaos than the real fans, Bhowmick recalled.
Pele landed a little after 7pm but could be taken out of the airport only around 11pm.
“Even at that time of the night lakhs of people were waiting by the side of VIP Road,” Bhowmick recalled.
“Police got the information and secretly diverted Pele's car through the old route of Jessore Road. The people waiting to see Pele became furious. Many cars and police vehicles were vandalised,” he said.
At the airport, many stuck around Dhiren De, then secretary of the Mohun Bagan club, thinking that sticking close to him would take them closer to Pele.
“I noticed one deputy superintendent of police [DSP] frequently requesting De not to forget to introduce him personally to Pele,” Bhowmick said.
When Pele’s plane landed, the crowd ran to the bay where the aircraft was to be parked. The security men stood around helplessly.
When Pele’s plane landed, the crowd ran to the bay where the aircraft was to be parked. The security men stood around helplessly (The Telegraph Library picture)
“The scenario inside the customs and immigration area was worse. Everybody was pushing and shoving to get near Pele. He was getting visibly irritated. Anybody who managed to come near started introducing himself, only to see a tired smile on Pele's face.”
After the ramp stairs were attached to the doorway, De, two or three more officials and the DSP went up. The DSP was still nudging De to introduce him to Pele.
De, irritated at the total chaos, pointed towards the DSP and said: "Mr Pele, meet my bodyguard!"
Pele was escorted to the station duty officer’s room to avoid the crowd, where two tough-looking sepoys were stationed in front of the door to bar any entry to the room.
Jatin Chakraborty, state minister and Mohun Bagan fan, was continuously trying to slip past the guards and enter the room. They thwarted his every attempt.
“He ultimately said that he was a minister. The guards were already irritated by the unruly crowd and retorted: ‘To meet Pele, everybody will be a minister today. Now get out of sight or we will throw you out!’”
Nearly half a century on, the parallels between Pele’s arrival and Messi’s troubled visit underline Kolkata’s enduring and sometimes unruly passion for football.
