Messi event fiasco will affect Bengal for 50 years: AIFF chief Chaubey

Kolkata: All India Football Federation president and BJP leader Kalyan Chaubey on Sunday claimed that the chaos and vandalism during football superstar Lionel Messi’s event at the Salt Lake Stadium here will have a wide fallout and damage Kolkata’s reputation for over 50 years.

The opening leg of Messi’s four-city ‘GOAT India Tour 2025’ in Kolkata descended into chaos on Saturday morning due to poor crowd management and security lapses, with the Argentine superstar surrounded and pushed by selfie-seeking politicians and VIPs.

As a result, Messi, accompanied by Inter Miami teammates Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul, wrapped up the programme in 20 minutes and returned to his hotel before leaving for Hyderabad for the second stop of the tour later in the evening.

The curtailed event triggered unrest among sections of the crowd, with angry spectators who had spent thousands of rupees to attend the programme vandalising the stadium, which was left littered with broken chairs, damaged canopies and water bottles strewn all over the pitch.

Describing the episode as "very unfortunate" for a city long regarded as the Mecca of Indian football, Chaubey said: “When an incident like this happens, it is noticed internationally.

"Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are among the world’s greatest footballers and are followed by millions across the globe," he said during a BJP media interaction.

"Football is played across 211 countries. There is no country in the world where football is not played; even on the smallest islands, football is played. When these two go anywhere, the world media follow them and follow their every move." Chaubey said the immediate impact was borne by fans who had spent large sums to attend the event, but warned that the long-term consequences could be far more damaging at a time when India is seeking to project itself as a global sporting destination.

"This is not a loss for just one person or any political party; it is a loss for Bengal and for the whole country.

“If today India bids for an international match in West Bengal, this event will act as an impediment. It is not just about today, when the event could not be held properly, its impact will be felt for 50 years in Bengal." The AIFF president noted that Kolkata has successfully hosted legendary players and major football events in the past, citing visits by icons such as Pele, Diego Maradona, Oliver Kahn and Lothar Matthaus, among others.

“All those programmes were conducted with dignity. What happened at the Salt Lake Stadium yesterday was avoidable. For Bengal and Kolkata, this will be remembered for a long time.

"India is set to host the Commonwealth Games in 2030. Sport is soft power, with football at the top, and this incident has given the country a bad name across 211 football-playing nations,” Chaubey said.

"I think we should have discussed these technical issues. We should have followed the do’s and don’ts and the rules so that the programme could have been conducted smoothly, as we have seen in the past.” he said.

With Kolkata serving a reality check, Messi’s Saturday evening programme in Hyderabad and the third leg of the tour in Mumbai on Sunday proceeded smoothly and concluded on a positive note.

Messi will wind up his India visit on Monday in New Delhi, where he is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi.