2025-12-13
The Indian authorities announced this Saturday an investigation after the riots that forced the evacuation of soccer player Lionel Messi from a stadium in the western city of Calcutta, an incident that has led to accusations of political corruption and fraud against the organizers.
The crisis broke out after the Argentine star’s visit had to be interrupted after 22 minutes due to the throwing of objects and the invasion of the security perimeter.
“Deeply shocked and shocked by the mismanagement witnessed today at the Salt Lake Stadium,” West Bengal state chief minister Mamata Banerjee said in a statement.
Banerjee also announced the creation of a committee headed by retired judge Ashim Kumar Ray, with the mandate to clarify responsibilities for the security failures that put the Inter Miami star at risk and led to police charges in the city.
Indian Deputy Education Minister Sukanta Majumder accused the region’s ruling party of having “hijacked” the event and caused the disaster through a corruption scheme in ticket sales.
The controversy originated inside the Salt Lake Stadium, where thousands of fans reported a scam after paying high-cost tickets and seeing how a wall of politicians and officials blocked the player’s view to take photographs, preventing the sporting spectacle.
After the riots at the stadium and protests at the player’s hotel, Messi’s entourage left Calcutta under tight security measures to continue its tour in the city of Hyderabad.
DISCOMFORT WITH MANAGEMENT
A fan of star Lionel Messi said: “It was a terrible event. He came alone for 10 minutes. All the leaders and ministers surrounded him. We couldn’t see anything. He didn’t take a single shot or a single penalty. They said they would bring Shah Rukh Khan too. They didn’t bring anyone. He came for 10 minutes and left. So much money, emotions and time wasted. We couldn’t see anything, not even his face…”
