Messi‘s visit to India turns ugly. Very ugly

India waited and finally got the chance to welcome Lionel Messi to one of the most populous countries in the world. Some might say this was never going to end well, and those who thought so turned out to be right. Admirers of one of the greatest footballers in history caused chaos at the stadium. At Salt Lake Stadium, fans resorted to serious vandalism. Supporters broke seats in the stands and threw them onto the pitch after Lionel Messi’s brief visit. The Argentine footballer’s tour of India began chaotically, as fans smashed seats and hurled them onto the field following a short appearance by the Argentine star and Inter Miami player at Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta, reported the news agency ANI.

Messi is in India as part of a tour that includes attending concerts, youth football clinics, a padel tournament, and launching humanitarian initiatives at events in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and New Delhi. According to Indian media reports, the 2022 World Cup winner walked around the pitch, greeting the crowd, but was surrounded by a large group of people and left the stadium just 20 minutes after arriving. Video footage released by ANI shows fans throwing broken stadium seats and other objects onto the pitch and the running track. Several individuals, after jumping over the fence surrounding the playing area, continued to throw objects. Complete chaos ensued, which clearly could not be prevented.

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Fans were seriously angry.

“There were only officials and actors around Messi… so why did they invite us then? We had tickets worth over 100 euros, and we didn’t even see his face” a disgruntled fan at the stadium told the Indian agency ANI. The other one even went to see Messi on his wedding day.

“Everyone was excited today as Messi was coming. It’s my wedding day, but I left all the ceremonies to be here. Still, the management was so pathetic that I couldn’t even see him” he protested.