The arrival of Leo Messi, along with Rodrigo De Paul and Luis Suarez, in Kolkata, India, unleashed the madness of thousands of fans. What was supposed to be a massive event ended after just 22 minutes and the viral images are embarrassing.
The Salt Lake Stadium quickly became a pressure cooker and some of the crowd began throwing objects onto the field as the Argentine left the stadium escorted. Salt Lake was left shattered, all in the face of the Argentine star.
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Disrespectful treatment of Messi and De Paul in Kolkata
On social media, hundreds of videos of what happened in Kolkata are circulating. The images show the Indian fans in a very bad light for their behavior in the stands, but on the pitch it was just as bad.
However, it is also striking how uncomfortable Leo and De Paul looked on the pitch at the Salt Lake Stadium. At one point, Aroop Biswas, a member of the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, argues with one of the organisers of the event to get to Messi and disrespectfully pushes the world champion towards a man so that they can take a picture.
Leo smiles for the photo, but he gets out of the scene as quickly as possible and his face says it all: he is not comfortable.
De Paul also caught the attention of Indian fans and many tried to take a picture with the world champion. However, the way they tried to do it was not the right one.
In the middle of the stadium, a man jumped in and grabbed De Paul by the arm without even asking. The Inter Miami player’s reaction was obvious and he shrugged him off.
The moment was so unreal that even a member of the local police began to argue with Messi’s private security because he was not allowed to approach the Argentine star. Leo’s private security had to remove him several times and Leo’s expression said it all, he could not believe what was happening.
Main organizer of the event arrested
Indian police arrested the main organizer of the event after the chaos that broke out at the Salt Lake Stadium.
“There was anger and anxiety among the fans when they saw that Messi was not playing. He was just going to say hello and leave,” explained Rajeev Kumar, director general of the West Bengal Police. The detainee will have to reimburse the money for the tickets and face the investigation for the mismanagement of the event.
