It was supposed to be a Super Saturday for the 65,000-plus fans of Lionel Messi at the Salt Lake Stadium, fans who paid steeply priced tickets for a glimpse of the man they regard as the God of football. What they got instead was a messy affair, thanks to a combination of shoddy planning and overzealous politicians and officials, which unleashed complete mayhem at the historic venue as irate fans vented their anger.
Promoter Under Fire
The script changed within a few hours for Satadru Dutta, promoter of the GOAT Tour of India, who had been hailed in the media as the man who brought Messi to India earlier in the day. The frustration and anger of fans, who felt cheated after failing to get even a proper glimpse of the superstar, let alone the promised two-hour presence, boiled over.
What amounted to an alleged breach of promise saw senior Kolkata Police officials confirm that Dutta had been detained at Kolkata airport while en route to his next destination, Hyderabad.
Fans Pay the Price
There are now serious question marks over the rest of the tour, and one can only sympathise with the fans, the biggest stakeholders of them all.
A crestfallen Sohom Goswami, a club-level footballer who attended the event on crutches after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury, sounded dejected as he walked away with a friend.
The doctors wanted me to restrict my movement for some more time, but I thought I wouldn’t get another opportunity to watch him so closely. It’s a pity I couldn’t even see him once.
An employee in the logistics cell of a private company, Sohom said spending Rs 6,000 on a ticket had not been easy for him.
Since it’s not possible for me to afford a trip to the World Cup in the US, I thought this would be value for money. You’ve seen what happened.
‘We’ve Been Cheated’
The sense of disappointment was writ large on the faces of hundreds of fans across age groups as they filtered out of the gigantic venue, draped in white-and-blue Argentina stripes.
India’s obsession with footballing icons, from Pelé’s Brazil to Maradona and Messi’s Argentina, in a country hovering around 150 in FIFA rankings has often been ridiculed. Never before, however, had fans felt so blatantly taken for a ride.
We’ve been cheated, there’s no other word for it. The programme said Messi would be here for nearly two hours and even shoot some penalties. The least they could have done was let him take a lap of the stadium, like Maradona once did. Is this really what we paid for?.
Political Fallout and Apology
The sequence of events has tarnished the reputation of the city as a sports-loving hub, especially since Messi had earlier played an international friendly between Argentina and Venezuela at the same venue in 2011 without incident.
Apologising on her X handle, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said: “I am deeply disturbed and shocked by the mismanagement witnessed today at Salt Lake Stadium… I sincerely apologise to Lionel Messi, all sports lovers, and his fans for this unfortunate incident.”
Blame Game Begins
Predictably, the blame game has begun, with fingers pointing squarely at promoter Dutta. “A Satadru Dutta Initiative” was emblazoned across tickets and hoardings, though questions remain whether the project required more professional handling in terms of event planning and logistics.
Notably, Global Wizcraft, one of the biggest names in event management, had pulled out of its association with the GOAT Tour barely two weeks ago.
Where Was the Football?
A look at the programme schedule across venues shows a heavy dependence on meet-and-greets with celebrities, corporate sponsors, and high-paying individuals, with a family selfie with Messi reportedly priced at Rs 10 lakh. What was glaringly missing was the football element itself, raising the fundamental question of whether fans received value for money.
Obviously not. While we don’t endorse the destruction of government property today, why did senior ministers and officials have to accost Messi like that? We paid for this, not them..
