The concrete benches in the galleries of the Salt Lake Stadium were replaced with comfortable bucket seats as part of a massive facelift in the run-up to the Fifa Under-17 World Cup in 2017.
On Sunday, thousands of such chairs, many of them broken and dented, lay strewn across the stadium. They were among the most striking scars of the mayhem that unfolded at the stadium on Saturday, which abruptly ended the much-hyped programme of football wizard Lionel Messi.
Ringed by a swarm of VIPs and half-celebrities, a visibly uncomfortable Messi remained out of sight for most spectators, who turned furious and resorted to vandalism after the legend left. The plastic chairs were ripped and tossed around.
The gates to the stadium were locked for most of Sunday as a panel tasked with probing the mismanagement and resulting chaos visited the stadium.
Besides the chairs, plastic water bottles, whether empty, full, or partially filled, were dispersed throughout the area. Empty lunch boxes, plastic food trays, leftover meal remnants, and paper cups were similarly scattered. The flexes and banners from the GOAT tour featuring Lionel Messi were shredded into pieces all around, a testament to the spectators’ furious emotions from Saturday.
According to sources in the state government, a clean-up job was pending because of the ongoing probe into the unrest. “Permission from the probe commission and the police is needed before cleaning the stadium. That will not come unless the forensic examination is complete,” said one of them.
A group of men had come to the stadium in the afternoon to collect whatever remained of the giant speakers, amplifiers and other parts of the sound system.
Many spectators vented their rage on the machines. Many were damaged beyond repair, said a representative of the vendor supplying the machines.
“We had supplied around 50 speakers. A detailed assessment has not been done yet. But we have suffered a financial loss of over₹50 lakh. Some speakers were never found. We have seen clips on social media suggesting some spectators fled with the speakers,” the man said.
At the base of ramp 7, a group of men was sorting crates of unused water and soft drink bottles. “We had supplied 300 crates of water bottles and 450 crates of soft drink bottles. Most of it was unsold because of the trouble. We are here to take it back,” said a man who supervised the loading of the crates into a truck parked nearby.
A series of iron bars lay at the base of ramp 29. They were part of a guardrail that stood at the gates. A day ago, furious spectators razed it to the ground.
Several metal detectors were lying on the ground
At the base of ramp 7, near the Annexe section of the stadium, a table was still standing. A heap of paper cups lay at the base of the table.
At the BC cutout, near the gates meant for ground officials and organisers and their vendors, a pile of bucket seats lay on the ground. A day ago, furious spectators ripped the seats off before tossing them around. The seats replaced the old and rickety concrete benches as the stadium underwent a massive facelift in the run-up to the Fifa Under-17 World Cup.
Also missing were many decorative flowerpots along the walkway. Many spectators were seen leaving with the pots on Saturday.
