Utter chaos unfolded at Salt Lake Stadium after Lionel Messi’s fleeting appearance left thousands of fans seething with anger and disappointment. Large sections of the crowd struggled to catch even a glimpse of the Argentine superstar, who was encircled by a tight ring of security personnel, politicians, and dignitaries, effectively cutting him off from the stands.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee issued an apology to Messi over the incident and condemned the “mismanagement”. The disruption cast a shadow over the beginning of Messi’s first visit to India in 14 years a multi-day journey across the country under the banner of the ‘GOAT Tour’, meant to celebrate one of football’s greatest careers.
Instead, bottles were thrown inside the stadium, hoardings were damaged, and angry spectators alleged that political leaders and VVIPs were given close access to Messi while ticket-paying fans were left stranded. Many claimed the minimum ticket price was Rs 5,000, yet large sections of the crowd could not see Messi at all. Several fans expressed to News Ei Samay that their visibility lasted only a few moments before he was escorted away.
2011 security liaison slams VIP pressure for Messi event chaos
Following this ruckus, comparisons were drawn with Messi’s previous Kolkata visit in 2011. Dipanjan Chakraborty, who served as the security liaison during that visit, while in a conversation with News Ei Samay, described the current episode as deeply embarrassing.
“First I want to say this is really unfortunate and shameful for West Bengal. Messi's tour has turned into a messy situation. It is really unfortunate.” Chakraborty told News Ei Samay, recalling how security was handled when Messi visited with the full Argentina squad.
Detailing the approach taken in 2011, he said: “We told them that if you are going to give us the security responsibility, we won't be entertaining any kind of interference, request or advice from anyone.” He added that even the chief minister was informed that her advice could not be accommodated if security was to remain uncompromised.
Chakraborty then pointed, “Actually, the situation becomes really critical, we get a lot of VIP requests and pressure from their end… and exactly that has become the problem this time. During our time, not for a single second did the situation go out of our control.”
“There was not a single complaint or any commotion. And this time has Messi came alone; that time, the entire Argentina team was present, and it was a government tour. So no doubt it was our achievement, and for that I am really grateful to Mukul Roy, along with Mr Siddhinath, Mr Surajit and the authority. They really did cooperate with me,” he added.
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When pressed with “It was the same government just like that time, just the administrators are different right now,” the former security liaison replied, “It could be in the last 14 years there's been a lot of changes, but as I always say, we can not just blame the government. The concerned senior-most man, who has the highest responsibility, has failed miserably. If I think, the CM will request me and if I listen to that, it'll cause a problem, or do I need to protect my country's pride, which one should be the biggest priority when Messi is coming to the country?”
“If I try to impress the CM or the Sports minister, then this kind of situation will happen,” he concluded.
