Messi in Kolkata: Upset fans vandalise Salt Lake stadium

CM Mamata Banerjee constitutes an enquiry committee over the incident and recommend measures to avoid such incidents in the future

Violence erupted at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday (December 13, 2025) after football legend Lionel Messi made a brief public appearance there.

Thousands of spectators, not only from Kolkata but from different parts of the country, had arrived at the stadium to catch a glimpse of their favourite football star. The convoy of Lionel Messi’s entered the stadium at exactly 11.30 a.m. He was accompanied by footballers Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul. The footballers looked happy to witness the frenzy of football fans gathered at the stadium.

But as soon as Lionel Messi entered the stadium, a crowd of about 70 to 80 people which included the organisers, State’s Sports Minister Aroop Biswas and representatives of football clubs surrounded him. The crowd was trying to take selfies and autographs from the football star, as a result, the spectators were unable to see Messi and other two footballers from the galleries. At one point, the angry football fans started chanting ‘We want Messi’. Lionel Messi was taken out of the stadium about 11.52 a.m. even before Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Bollywood actor Shahrukh Khan arrived at the stadium.

Football fans were angry that despite buying tickets at steep prices they were not even able to catch a glimpse of their favourite star. Within minutes angry football fans started breaking chairs in the gallery and throwing them on the field. Bottles started falling on the field. People broke the fencing gate on the edge of the field and entered the field in large numbers. Hundreds of people took control of the stadium and overturned temporary structures in the field. The spectators also set temporary structures on fire inside the stadium.

The police personnel tried to push back the crowd but they were outnumbered. Chaos ensued at the football stadium for several minutes. Even outside the stadium thousands of football fans gathered and shouted against the administration and the organisers. There was a large deployment of police which resorted to baton charge to control the crowd.

Lionel Messi on his G.O.A.T. India tour 2025, and he arrived in Kolkata in the early hours of Saturday (December 13, 2025). There were elaborate arrangements to welcome Messi and a 70ft long statue of the Argentinian football legend has been erected on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass near the Sreebhumi Sporting Club in Lake Town. This was Lionel Messi’s second visit to Kolkata that did not go as planned. The football star had visited the city 14 years ago.

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