The opening leg of Lionel Messi’s much anticipated GOAT Tour devolved into chaos as upset fans resorted to throwing bottles and attempting to break gates between stands after the Argentine superstar’s fleeting appearance before a jam-packed crowd at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.
The incident happened after Messi left the field after only 20 minutes after arriving at the stadium at 11.30 AM via car. As soon as Messi entered the ground, he was surrounded by a human barricade of security as well as a lot of other people. Even on repeated requests, the field was not cleared and the 2022 FIFA World Cup winner, who was waving at the fans, ultimately had to be escorted out.
Fans vandalise a portion of the stands at the Salt Lake Stadium shortly after Messi’s exit from the field. (Express Photo by Sayak Dutta)Chaos ensued as soon as Messi exited the field. Fans who had paid tickets ranging between Rs 3.8k to Rs 11,800, raised loud jeers and then the situation turned worse. The fans then started to throw chairs as well as bottles into the ground while thousands invaded the ground. The event, which was advertised to be a celebration of Messi, ended prematurely in disappointment for the Kolkata fans.
#WATCH | Kolkata, West Bengal: Angry fans resort to vandalism at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, alleging poor management of the event.
Star footballer Lionel Messi has left the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
A fan of star footballer Lionel Messi said, “Absolutely terrible… pic.twitter.com/TOf2KYeFt9
— ANI (@ANI) December 13, 2025
Earlier in the day, Messi virtually unveiled his 70-foot statue in Lake Town, Kolkata, before heading to the Salt Lake Stadium.
“We have talked to his manager, and today we will talk to Messi… He gave his consent for the statue, and they are also happy…,” Trinamool Congress MLA Sujit Bose told ANI.
“We built this statue in 40 days. This is a very big statue, 70 feet in height. There is no other statue of Messi this big in the world. Messi is coming to Kolkata, and there are a lot of fans of Messi.”
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