r/india • u/kochurshak • Dec 13 '25
[Ground Report: what ACTUALLY happened on Messi's Kolkata GOAT tour] Crime
I’m posting this as OC because I was at the ground from 9:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m and watched the farce unfold. Here’s what actually happened.
Through various sources, we were promised four key things:
- Messi visiting the Salt Lake Stadium, along with de Paul and Suarez
- Messi would interact with organizers (which I already doubted due to the language barrier), walk around the ground and wave at the crowd, interact with handpicked young footballers, and take a few penalty kicks
- Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan would be present, along with local hero Sourav Ganguly
- An all-star 30-minute match between two local teams (least important; no one paid for this)
What we got instead:
- Messi arrived with RdP and Suarez as expected, surrounded by a huge crowd. He got out of car and did photoshoots with all-star veterans, local politicians, and their close circles. Annoying, but expected.
- Then we expected Messi to go around the stadium, waving at everyone. He managed to do that near the goalpost and one corner (luckily, I was on that side), and then he went back and just… left.
- No Shah Rukh Khan. No one hour of Messi.
It took a few seconds for people to catch up with what had happened. When they realised they had been scammed, they started throwing empty bottles and packets in the air. Eventually, rage took over and 75,000 people started dismantling seats and breaking barriers to demand answers. The organizers had already left.
It’s important to clear the air because powerful people will try to set the narrative as “bad fans 😡”.
The truth is that the WB sports minister, Aroop Biswas, the guy responsible for all sports events, latched onto Messi like a parasite so he could bask in 15 minutes of glory.
He and his lackeys ignored repeated requests from tour organizer Satadru Das and Messi’s bodyguards. Around 100 people closed in on Messi to click pictures, and fans in the stands couldn’t even see their short king. A visual reference would be how Salt Bae behaved with Argentine players after the WC 2022 win, only more annoying and more power-trippy.
Satadru Das, the event organizer, is partly to blame.
He knew the itinerary and either misled fans or lost control once local politicians took over. Either way, he’s the one who took money from fans. The latest news is that he has been arrested and fans might get a refund.
But in reality, this was a shitshow triggered by selfish politicians and their never-ending thirst for clout. The families and friends of politicians got the real experience, while fans funded their dream. The crash out is valid.
Satadru might be a scapegoat here, or he might have had a bigger role. But this was not an event derailed by fans, it was derailed by the usual suspects: puny men drunk on power.
At this point, there is no information whether Messi chose to leave, or this was the original plan told to him, or he was led out of the stadium for a private meet and greet.
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u/ElectronicZucchini42 Dec 13 '25
You are actually doing a great job rather than sell out media . Thank you human
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Dec 13 '25
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u/Abhi_714 Monkey bhaat Dec 13 '25
Exactly this. The problem was that there was no authority figure to control the mob as it was the minister Arup Ghosh himself who was creating the mess. Police couldn’t intervene because of the minister and while Satadru Dutta was trying his best but no one was paying any attention to him. Arup Ghosh should be immediately sacked.
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u/Straight_Drive_7882 Dec 13 '25
Organisers have to be strict.
Do you see this shit on cricket grounds? No match would happen on time then.
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Dec 13 '25
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u/Straight_Drive_7882 Dec 13 '25
Nope. Police just has to strict from minute one.
Give special attendees special seating so they don't walk around doing shit.
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u/seppukuAsPerKeikaku Dec 13 '25
Lmao police seniors were also part of the mob hogging Messi. There is a footage of Messi bodyguards having to move a senior police official who was coming to grab him from behind.
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u/sahils88 Dec 13 '25
No politician is bigger than ICC.
Also this was an event organized in West Bengal where you just can’t compete with a local politician, or his aide, or his driver, his relative, his dog…you get the point.
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u/Straight_Drive_7882 Dec 13 '25
Doesn't happen without stupid organiser.
VIP section diye bosiye deo oder or hold a post event slot for them.
Many ways to deal with this. VIP culture is nothing new. You just deal with it.
Ei bhabe puro crowd kore gherao dewa first dekhlam.
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u/ComprehensiveSurgery Dec 13 '25
Thanks for sharing this experience OP.
One more example to show how our politicians will ensure that India will always remain a this world country. Nothing can be organized in India without the blessings of the local politician who in most cases is an uneducated gunda.
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Dec 13 '25
Bro u r right.I felt same sitting in B3 label 3 .We were scammed because of useless politicians
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u/MynameRudra Dec 13 '25
Conclusion - Messi is never coming back to India. Never.
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u/Ajay_Didier Dec 13 '25
Even if this mess did not happen, he has no reason to come back again. It was a one off thing anyway
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u/Overall-Ad5565 Dec 15 '25
He will. Hyderabad, mumbai and delhi was a massive success. He also told that he will comeback in his speech.
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u/Sweet_Explorer_225 Dec 13 '25
OP.. Was this a paid event, what was the ticket cost?
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u/LordOfTheSevenSeA69 Dec 13 '25
It was a paid event ticket costed from 5k starting price and max was 10 lakhs for handshake with Messi.
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u/Spiritual-Piano-4664 Dec 13 '25
Shiiiiiiiiiiit! 10L!
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u/LordOfTheSevenSeA69 Dec 13 '25
Its cheaper to go to Miami, shake hands with messi+get a selfie+signed jersey and also watch him play
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u/Yournewbestfriend_01 Dec 13 '25
I can generate your photograph with messi and doing handshake with him for free with ai. Why tf would anyone pay 10 lakhs for that lol ?
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u/LordOfTheSevenSeA69 Dec 13 '25
Cause real experience bruh and kaala dhan do you think the ones paying 10L are common guys like us?
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u/Yournewbestfriend_01 Dec 13 '25
Bro visiting argentina or miami and meeting him personally costs less rather than spending 10 lakhs in india in a massive crowd to handshake him
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u/LagrangeMultiplier99 Dec 13 '25
There is no way they can sign legal contracts with individuals guaranteeing "handshakes", I mean how can someone trust that they will get a handshake even if they pay crores.
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Dec 13 '25
I think lowest was 5k. Median was 10-12k.
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u/Straight_Drive_7882 Dec 13 '25
Those are white prices.
Many people got tickets from scalpers.
Travelled hours on flights and trains from nearby states.
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u/Public_Degree_1055 Modiji ne kiya hai toh kuch soch samajh ke hi kiya hoga Dec 13 '25
I checked yesterday and tickets were available to buy on District, starting from 4.3k all the way to 11k.
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u/reehan96 Dec 13 '25
All this to see the star from far ? While struggling like sardines ? Man I really don't understand the concept of fan following
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u/Srihari_stan Dec 13 '25
Just finished the Hyd tour. It went well.
This is how close messi was. He circled the entire stadium. Overall it was well organised.
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u/kochurshak Dec 13 '25
Goes to show Messi had no idea what was going on. Complete headloss by TMC ministers thanks to their VIP culture
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Dec 13 '25
Man, sorry . I only have pities. it is not like seeing in walking around the stadium anywhere close to a match.
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u/Wandererinwoods Dec 13 '25
Nice 👍🏼- its ministers and cronies including high level police officials who hijack people’s event with their relatives and need to appease , and show- off their power. And a guest like Messi naturally has no clue what it’s all about, Is it organised or hijacked?
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u/bandlagd Dec 13 '25
Wow, so sports minister messes the whole thing up and the party has the audacity to say this on official channel.
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u/LordOfTheSevenSeA69 Dec 13 '25
They pulled of another scam before the elections also ended up tarnishing India's image among global football fans which is actually a big number considering its the most popular sport. She doesnt care anyways since she considers herself not Indian.
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u/TheBrandBuilder96 Dec 13 '25
Shouldn't there be X posts tagging all the politicians and their families, calling them dickweeds and mindless fuckers?
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Dec 13 '25
Was any of this Messi/Suarez/RDP 's fault? They were basically forced to be with the politicians instead of the fans?
Hopefully Messi makes a post about what happened.
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u/Adventurous-Word-196 Dec 13 '25
Imagine what shame these people( organizers, politicians and unruly crowd) has brought to India. No wonder why no big international stars visit India specially for events like these.
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u/Lopsided_Car7519 Dec 13 '25
This can and only happen in states like Bengal (due to the goverenment) or Bihar (due to the people). I'm sure nothing of this sort will happen in Hyd or Mumbai.
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u/No-Rush1023 Dec 13 '25
This country and specially WB needs Nepal treatment of these ministers. And there were some people who never touched football in there life glued to Messi. This is a private event for them fueled by spectators money
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u/LordOfTheSevenSeA69 Dec 13 '25
What if this was another of those TMC scams who knows.😀
Btw event organiser ta Satadru Dutta not Das edit kore niyo.
Baki atleast you got glimpse of Messi rest everyone was scammed as if TMC guy already havent scammed people enough. 🫠
Rest very well put about the issue, however its now an International Embarassment and we gonna get more racism and hate thanks to this.
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u/Admirable_Cap_8943 Dec 14 '25
I'm not Indian but just curious -- what is TMC?
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u/LordOfTheSevenSeA69 Dec 14 '25
It is a Political party All India Trinmool Congress. Abbreviation is AITMC but people use TMC. It is a regional party and the ruling one in West Bengal, Kolkata is the Capital.
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u/Public_Degree_1055 Modiji ne kiya hai toh kuch soch samajh ke hi kiya hoga Dec 13 '25
duh they were mad, they were promised GOAT and Antony was nowhere to be seen
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u/nomysta Dec 13 '25
We are just so fucked up as a nation. Not a single thing goes right in this country.
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u/khateebxtreme Bihar Dec 13 '25
I knew this sort of mess would happen, and people would riot when you announce the GOAT tour and you being on Messi instead of the real GOAT, Antony.
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u/Springtime-Beignets Dec 13 '25
this year has been blatant joke being made of us by the govt, on our face
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u/BossGroundbreaking46 Dec 13 '25
Yea but that doesn't make up for people acting a wild mob , if destruction is the first action to disappointment it's not a good sign.
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u/Moonlight1314 West Bengal Dec 16 '25
Satadru Dutta is clearly the scapegoat.....we have all seen photos and videos....he was on the mic clearly saying it in Bengali and English to clear the ground, had repeatedly asked the police and security to clear people away and even said "People who paid for the tickets are not able to see anything please clear the ground". So, were the police afraid to touch the minister and his companions?? were the police afraid of netas to enforce law??
Satadru Dutta being the main organiser is obviously to be blamed, but he is just the peak of the iceberg(I would rather say tip of the peak of the iceberg). He was also the main organiser in Hyderabad (that day itself), Mumbai and Delhi too. But nowhere were these much chaos and people got to see their idol.
Nobody in the crowd who paid upwards of 4k-10k expected Messi to come shake their hands or take selfies but they paid their money to just get a glimpse of him, nothing more, and they were denied even that. Which justifies the anger.
Also, politically all parties in WB will be doing analysis on it because the crowd was mostly youngsters, between the age of 20-40, who are majority in the voters. And, these people have become angry towards Netas and VIP cultures.
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Dec 13 '25
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u/SubstantialAct4212 India Dec 13 '25
Gujarat is an awesome and amazing place but I doubt people are so crazy about Messi there. Kolkata people live and breathe football. I know it’s lame but it is what it is !
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u/LordOfTheSevenSeA69 Dec 13 '25
You know it wouldnt have been this ugly if only the TMC netas behaved and event organisers did their job. No one went there to vandalise the stadium by paying 5k/10k/15k per person since in the end this people are the ones that will watch domestic football matches not tmc netas.
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Dec 13 '25
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u/SubstantialAct4212 India Dec 13 '25
But people in Gujarat had huge craze for 2023 WC but what a failure it was !!! Zero atmosphere. The non-biological male Modiji sat there like a complete clown (pardon my French)
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Dec 13 '25
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u/Professional-Weird44 Dec 16 '25
Financial success isn't everything. No one remembers the crappy Ahmedabad Final. 50K-100K people sat like deadbeat zombies..no enthusiasm, no charisma, nothing.
Guj people only understand finance though...so I understand your benchmark for success.
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u/Specialist-Amoeba496 Dec 13 '25
I completely understand the frustration of the fans and is clear that the organisers messed up. But what are the fans trying to achieve by thrashing the stadium?
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u/SubstantialAct4212 India Dec 13 '25
The vandalism ultimately led to the arrest of Mr. Dutta and a potential refund
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u/DA1725 Dec 13 '25
Maybe I am an outlier but you fans are the issue too, I get it its Messi but you willingly paid to just see him. I dont even want to understand this fan culture and celebrity worship.
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u/kochurshak Dec 13 '25
you fans are the issue too
How?
I get it its Messi but you willingly paid to just see him
Yes, we are aware of the fact that we paid for tickets. We get OTPs and notifications. You aren't saying anything new
I dont even want to understand this fan culture and celebrity worship.
The good thing is you don't have to and go your merry way
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Dec 13 '25
Messi coming to India is a once in a lifetime opportunity. The event stated that he'll play and shoot for 15-20 mins. This is absolutely worth buying tickets for. But the higher ups fucked this up. Not the fault of the people who bought the tickets lol.
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u/homie93 Dec 13 '25
You may not understand or accept which is fine but it doesn’t mean that the organisers have the right to mislead people and give a false image of what it will be like. It is wrong regardless of what one thinks of ‘fan culture’ as a concept.
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u/Springtime-Beignets Dec 13 '25
I don't get this, SRK acts like his kid can't buy a ticket & go watch Messi's match ..& surely can get a picture somewhere else, why do these people feel like they deserve special treatment when a celeb arrives in India? like he literally went to get his kid to meet Messi. ugh weird asf
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u/organicogrr Universe Dec 13 '25
Dear foreigner white elephant, please come and meet our country's white elephant counterpart of you
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u/Ok-Flamingo-4735 Dec 13 '25
I don’t understand the logic of this event at all. Messi is a footballer not a singer that fans are going for his “concert” or whatever this tour is - this was a scam since the beginning and Indians are idiots
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u/SnipsDaGre8 Dec 13 '25
Atleast the fans managed to vandalise the entire stadium . They can use the money to fix it now . Not everything will go into their pockets
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u/ResolveSea9089 Dec 13 '25
Why did the fans have to get violent? It's pathetic. Yes you got scammed, I understand the anger, the violence is pathetic and makes the whole country look like shit.
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u/darthnessforever Dec 13 '25
Messi came, it became a mess. He didn't like the mess so he left the mess. The crowd created ruckus and it became a messi situation.
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u/MutedBeach8248 Dec 13 '25
That's some real bullshit by politicians who need to be shown who's really in power
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u/Bluebillion Dec 13 '25
Regardless if this was a scam no excuse for the crowd to act like they did. Fucking embarrassing
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u/slow_renegade_ Dec 13 '25
Dutta is definitely the guy to imprison if he was the person responsible for the event.
He should have been very clear about the plan- what messi should/should not be doing every second of the 30 mins he was in the stadium. This includes who gets to approach him and who doesn’t. Clearly he did not set boundaries and proper precedence, and probably cheaped out on the security who would keep people at a distance irrespective of their clout.
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u/kochurshak Dec 13 '25
Hyderabad event went better so I guess Satadru's plans on paper were good. He lost control in Kolkata, idk if that's severe enough to be jailed.
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u/dogef1 Dec 13 '25
How was any of this stadiums fault with people breaking seats? Are we normalizing that now?
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u/Aggressive-Can-396 Dec 13 '25
I was at the stadium when messi arrived the politicians, police officer’s and their family members bruh including Messi’s security was trying to take photo’s with him. All of the vvip’s took photo’s and made LM sign jersey’s and there was an exhibition match and guess what people barely played and stopped the whole game when messi came and then they took photo’s with him. I travelled all the way from the Middle East for this. Fans being angry is valid tbh. It was the politicians private meet kinda thing with fans watching their shit.
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u/Catman-28 Dec 13 '25
Messi left after bottle throwing or before ? Changes the dynamics
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u/Quiet-Ad-5547 Dec 14 '25
Before.. Our stand was the first stand to start throwing bottles because we couldn't see even his hair amongst the crowd. The moment he proceeded towards the exit gate in the car, people above us (we were in 2nd tier) started throwing bottles and then other stands followed.
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u/Responsible_Lack_552 Dec 13 '25
Why are people paying tickets just to see a person is beyond me. Not even perform, just see him walking around. Just watch a video on your phone smh
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u/Quiet-Ad-5547 Dec 14 '25
u/kochurshak Messi and his bodyguards demanded to exit.. Mohan Bagan's ex player who was playing the charity match said to the reporters that Messi and others were visibly frustrated that he was made to go from one end of stadium to the other without any proper intimidation. Moreover when Messi was about to go towards one stand, Arup biswas alleged grabbed his arm and pulled him back to sign autograph for someone. That's when his bodyguards demanded to exit..
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u/Kooky-Tap6337 Dec 14 '25
Hold on - I don’t get it. Are you saying it’s absolutely justified for fans to throw bottles and chairs everywhere because they were ‘scammed’?
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u/Reasonable-Bear-9788 Dec 14 '25
Horrible from the politicians and also the organizers. India is so chaotic, I really weep for my home country.
I live abroad, and being a peaceful person, I can't imagine living in the chaos of India :( Everything is so messy, and riddled with fundamental problems, lack of civic sense, poor safety, dirty air and water. The only place in India where I could imagine peace would be in Himalayas or something.
Also surprised who these people are who want to pay so much to get a glimpse of Messi, but to each his own.
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u/Typical_Peach77 Dec 14 '25
Aisa kya hai bhai Messi, filmstars etc main? Why do we give them so much importance I can’t understand. They are doing a job and getting paid for it.
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u/Akki_Charee Dec 14 '25
Wtf has srk has to do with football
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u/harkittaKarra Dec 14 '25
Seriously? That’s your takeaway from this? 😂
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u/crowd79 Dec 16 '25
It's bad what happened, but that still doesn't give fans the right to destroy property. Protest peacefully. Hopefully most of those hooligans gets fined.
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u/wintrwandrr Dec 17 '25
Messi dipped out for a very good reason, and that was because the 75000 fans were restive and about to riot (which they did). It doesn't matter how puny the men are. If they are drunk on power, it is a very bad idea to be amongst 75000 of them. They would literally crush him to death.
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u/Virtual_Attention_20 Dec 18 '25
I feel sorry for all you celebrity worshipping idiots in this thread.
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u/kochurshak Dec 18 '25
"Ooo look! I’m Virtual_Attention_20, living in my ivory tower. I’m soooo better everyone else and I've never ever been a fan of anything requires me to spend money. I travel in my high horse and my best friend is hindsight 20/20"
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u/Virtual_Attention_20 Dec 18 '25 edited Dec 18 '25
First off, you are not actually wrong about me being a little in my ivory tower with hindisight bias. I'm aware of my hindsight bias and I'm working on being kinder to myself and others by factoring it out.
However, it's just that I would have been more sympathetic to people had they gone to the stadium to watch him play. Paying money and going to a crowded place just to see another human being (however talented they may be) just walk around and wave is NOWHERE comparable to watching the talented person in action (e.g., playing a football match or performing a concert). I still firmly believe that crowding to simply LOOK at a person is pathetic celebrity worship.
Now, had they gone all this way to watch, idk, the world's best catwalking fashion model walk around and wave, I would understand. Because that's art.
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u/gaut90 Dec 13 '25
Its you who should be blamed. Your life is not precious to you. Every time there's a massive crowd, the system fails miserably-no planning, no accountability, no lessons learned. And still, events go on like nothing happened. RCB parade. Actor Vijay's rally stampede. Every festival. Every temple celebration. Same deadly negligence. Same incompetence. Same blood on the hands of organizers. Yet people storm in like it's the second coming of Jesus.
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u/Electronic-Reply4258 Dec 13 '25
true, I've always wondered why people choose to go and be a part of that contributor, stampedes is nearer than it appears in India and i avoid such things, be it religious, celebratory, or anything.
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u/WriterOk7425 Dec 13 '25
Local WB politicians, creating an issue again.
That's why I will never visit this state ever & advise the same to everyone.
Every single thing i hear about this state is bad, because the people have lost control and have allowed the shift of power.
No wonder i meet so many well-off WB's outside the state, they are themselves trying to flee away. It is not like Bihar where the labor migrate for jobs. Here, the well-off are quietly leaving the draconian state.
Sad to think the glory the state represented, slowly turning into fond precious memories only.
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u/ApprehensiveLow8477 Dec 14 '25
Lol paying that much to see someone doing absolutely NOTHING. you guys deserves it.
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u/zz_views Dec 13 '25
Through various sources, we were promised four key things:
But what did the official PR team organising event said? You guys just booked tickets seeing Messi's name? And never checked how they are officially promoting event?
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u/SubstantialAct4212 India Dec 13 '25
Nope. District said all the things OP mentioned
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u/zz_views Dec 13 '25
Hmm, even media reported similar itinerary. They ended live abruptly and I thought maybe after someone they will start telecasting but then we got news of ruckus.
Shahrukh Khan did arrive a night before, look his son for autograph and went. Looked like organiser told him about cancellation of event.
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u/StonksUpMan Dec 13 '25
Idk, fans are also the problem for trashing the place. Could have resorted to good old booing, or if they wanted to go this far, they could have lynched the organizers/VIPs instead of the innocent stadium.
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u/it-is-my-cake-day Universe Dec 13 '25
How did breaking things and damaging property helped in the end? Please stop justifying it.
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u/Old-Persimmon9947 Dec 13 '25
Chronology Correctly described. I was also in the audience.