All India Football Federation (AIFF) president and BJP leader Kalyan Chaubey on Sunday warned that the chaos and vandalism during Lionel Messi’s Kolkata appearance will have a wide fallout and damage Kolkata’s reputation for over 50 years.
The opening leg of Messi’s four-city ‘GOAT India Tour 2025’ at Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday spiralled out of control due to crowd mismanagement and security lapses.
The Argentine footballer was surrounded and pushed by politicians and VIPs seeking photographs, forcing organisers to cut short the programme.
Messi, accompanied by Inter Miami teammates Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul, wrapped up the event within 20 minutes and returned to his hotel before departing for Hyderabad later in the day.
The abrupt end triggered unrest among sections of the crowd. Several spectators, who had paid thousands of rupees for tickets, vandalised parts of the stadium. Broken chairs, damaged canopies and water bottles were left scattered across the pitch.
Calling the incident “very unfortunate” for a city widely seen as the heart of Indian football, Chaubey said the fallout would extend far beyond the immediate disruption.
“When an incident like this happens, it is noticed internationally,” he said during a BJP media interaction.
"Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the world’s greatest footballers and are followed by millions across the globe," he said. "Football is played across 211 countries. There is no country in the world where football is not played; even on the smallest islands, football is played. When these two go anywhere, the world media follow them and follow their every move."
Chaubey said fans bore the immediate cost, but warned of longer-term consequences at a time when India is trying to position itself as a destination for major sporting events.
"This is not a loss for just one person or any political party; it is a loss for Bengal and for the whole country. If today India bids for an international match in West Bengal, this event will act as an impediment. It is not just about today, when the event could not be held properly, its impact will be felt for 50 years in Bengal," he said.
The AIFF president pointed out that Kolkata has previously hosted several global football icons without incident, including Pele, Diego Maradona, Oliver Kahn and Lothar Matthaus.
“All those programmes were conducted with dignity. What happened at the Salt Lake Stadium yesterday was avoidable. For Bengal and Kolkata, this will be remembered for a long time. India is set to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030. Sport is soft power, with football at the top, and this incident has given the country a bad name across 211 football-playing nations,” Chaubey said. "I think we should have discussed these technical issues. We should have followed the do’s and don’ts and the rules so that the programme could have been conducted smoothly, as we have seen in the past.”
After the Kolkata setback, Messi’s Saturday evening appearance in Hyderabad and the third leg of the tour in Mumbai on Sunday went ahead without disruption and concluded as planned.
Messi will conclude his India visit on Monday in New Delhi, where he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
