KOLKATA, India (AP) — Lionel Messi’s much-hyped tour of India got off to a rocky start Saturday with angry fans throwing bottles and attempting to vandalize a stadium after many of them failed to get more than just a glimpse of their hero.
The Times of India reported that many ticket-holders said that they failed to see Messi at all — either in person or on the stadium’s big screens — despite waiting for hours.
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee apologized to the Argentine soccer star for the “mismanagement” of the event.
“I am deeply disturbed and shocked by the mismanagement witnessed today at Salt Lake Stadium,” Banerjee wrote on social media, where she also apologized to fans who had expected more after paying for tickets.
Banerjee said a committee would be constituted to “conduct a detailed enquiry into the incident, fix responsibility, and recommend measures to prevent such occurrences in the future.”
Irate fans – many of whom wore Messi Argentina shirts – threw seats from the stands, then forced their way past security fences onto the field and attempted to cause more damage before overwhelmed security personnel chased them away. Messi had already left.
Messi’s three-day “GOAT India Tour” was to bring the World Cup winner from Kolkata to Hyderabad and then Mumbai before concluding in New Delhi on Monday. He was joined by longtime teammates Luis Suárez and Rodrigo De Paul.
Earlier Saturday, Messi remotely “unveiled” a 21-meter (70-foot) statue of himself in Kolkata.
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