Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium was meant to erupt in celebration on Saturday, December 13. As a substitute, what got here subsequent after Lionel Messi’s transient look was outrage, from followers who stated they paid premium costs solely to be pushed apart whereas ministers, celebrities and VIPs took heart stage.
As safety tightened and Messi’s lap across the stadium was abruptly reduce quick, frustration spilled out within the stands and on-line. The fury was not directed on the soccer icon, however at organizers accused of hijacking the occasion by means of poor planning, restricted entry and VIP prioritisation.
‘We paid, we did not even see him’
Movies shared by information businesses confirmed visibly indignant spectators accusing organizers of turning this system right into a VIP showcase. One fan, whose comment shortly went viral, stated regardless of paying ₹12,000 for a ticket, he ‘could not even see Messi’s face’, alleging that “solely leaders and actors had been surrounding him”.
One other supporter described the occasion as ‘horrible’, saying Messi was seen for just a few minutes. “There was no kick, no penalty, no second. This isn’t what we had been promised,” he stated, as chants demanding refunds grew louder within the stands.
“Seeing the utter chaos, the administration, the authorities, it was completely garbage,” one other fan stated on digital camera. “Everybody right here loves soccer. All of us got here to see Messi. This was a complete rip-off. We would like our a reimbursement.”
Mother and father had been among the many most distressed. One attendee stated his little one had waited for hours, solely to observe Messi arrive and be instantly surrounded by VIPs. “It felt like a rip-off for peculiar individuals,” he stated.
One other fan questioned why police and officers didn’t intervene. “The minimal ticket was ₹5,000. Why had been VVIPs and ministers hogging Messi’s time? We could not even see him. Everybody was livid,” he stated, demanding a refund.
Anger spills past the stadium
The backlash shortly moved to social media. Posts on One viral response summed up the temper in three phrases, ‘Pathetic. Woeful. ‘Poignant.’
Some attendees went additional, calling the occasion ‘an entire fraud’ and alleging that the perfect entry was reserved for politicians, media personnel and police, whereas paying followers had been saved at a distance.
As visuals of bottles being hurled and chairs set on hearth flooded timelines, the narrative round Messi’s go to shifted dramatically. What was billed as a historic soccer celebration ended as a belief deficit, with followers satisfied the spectacle was by no means actually meant for them.