After the legendary Argentine soccer player Lionel Messi made a fleeting appearance at a ticketed event, supporters at Kolkata’s Salt Lake stadium in India tossed items, tore up seats and stormed the field today (13 December) in the beginning of his tour of India.
Director General of West Bengal police Rajeev Kumar said, Satadru Dutta, the event’s main organizer, has been taken into custody.
Messi’s visit to the stadium was supposed to last 45 minutes but it only lasted 20 minutes. The cost of the event tickets was approximately 3,500 rupees ($38.65) which is more than half of the typical weekly salary in India. However, a fan claimed to have spent $130 for a ticket.
At the Salt Lake stadium, spectators tossed torn-up seats and other items onto the pitch while other individuals scaled a fence surrounding the field to do the same.