Satadru Dutta, the event’s chief organiser, has been detained by police, said Rajeev Kumar, Director General of West Bengal police. Messi was scheduled for a 45-minute visit to the stadium, but his appearance lasted just 20 minutes.
Tickets for the event were priced from around $38.65, more than half of the average weekly income in India, but one fan said he had paid $130.
Fans in the Salt Lake stadium in the capital of the Eastern state of West Bengal threw ripped-up seats and other objects onto the field, while several people climbed a fence around the field and hurled objects.
“I can’t believe there was so much mismanagement,” said Eddie Lal Hmangaihzuala, who had travelled nearly 1 500 km from Mizoram over two days to attend the event.
“Messi left quickly, I think he felt unsafe. I hardly got a glimpse of him,” he told Reuters. The organisers of the tour did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.
“We’ve already detained the main organiser,” Rajeev Kumar told reporters. “We’re taking action so that this mismanagement does not go unpunished.
–Reuters–
