Lionel Messi's first visit to India since 2011, in the form of a 'GOAT' Tour visiting Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi, participating in friendly matches and other fan events, turned into chaos on Saturday at Kolkata's Salt Lake, with riots and arrests. Fans were left disappointed after paying tickets worth around 4,500 rupees, or 42 euros -and some paid twice that much- and barely catching a glimpse at the Argentinian footballer in a shorter than expected appearance.
According to testimoies, Messi was on sight for only 20 minutes, most of the time completely surrounded by people, and only did a short walk around the stadium. Fans were anry and started throwing objects and vandalizing the stadium when Messi left. Three people were arrested for vandalism, as well as the organiser of the event.
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According to Indian Express, Messi's security team escorted the player out of the stadium as they felt unsafe, when people were already booing and showing their dissatisfaction.
These scenes only happened in Kolkata. The rest of the Messi "GOAT Tour" happened without incidents the rest of the weekend, as Messi took part in other activities like attending concerts, a padel tournament and visits to football academies.