We’ve seen it before. Frustration and anger from paying audiences, who have come to experience Lionel Messi live and boast that they have done so. So when the icon is either damaged or sitting on the counter, then the reactions come. Still, what unfolded in Kolkata was something completely new. Messi wasn’t even supposed to play here.
Lionel Messi is in India. In three days, the Argentine superstar will visit four cities. On Saturday morning, Messi was in Kolkata, which is the first stop on the “GOAT India Tour 2025”. The Times of India reports on chaos at the Salt Lake Stadium shortly after Messi arrived. People in the crowd started booing, throwing bottles, tearing down flags and out chairs, disappointed that they couldn’t see Messi clearly. Among other things, spectators smashed seats from the stands and threw them onto the running tracks.
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“A completely miserable experience. He (Messi) came on for ten minutes. All the leaders and ministers surrounded him. We couldn’t see anything,” a fan told the media agency ANI.
The crowd’s behavior forced Messi to cancel his performance and leave the stadium. Security personnel had to intervene to ensure the star’s safety. The situation quickly escalated out of control when spectators entered the pitch, smashed chairs and overturned tents that had been set up. All in frustration over not being able to catch a glimpse of one of the world’s greatest football players. The police were forced to intervene to try to calm the situation.
Mamata Banerjee, chief minister of the state of West Bengal, has issued an apology to Lionel Messi on X.
“I am deeply upset and shocked by what happened at Salt Lake Stadium. I sincerely apologize to Lionel Messi, as well as all sports lovers and his fans, for this unfortunate incident,” Banerjee wrote.
Tickets for the event cost from 5000 Indian rupees (around 47 euros), People ANI spoke to said they had paid 12,000 rupees (around 114 euros) to see Messi. Now, some of them are demanding refunds.
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Together with teammates Luis Suárez and Rodrigo de Paul, Messi unveiled a 21-metre-high statue of himself in Kolkata earlier on Saturday. The tour will continue in Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi. Good luck!
