Lionel Messi visited Kolkata, but fans who paid hefty ticket prices were furious after he stayed only for a couple of minutes and left without any proper interaction or appearance.
As frustration peaked, people began shouting at the management and things quickly escalated, chairs were thrown inside the stadium, and the situation turned chaotic.
Many fans feel cheated, saying the event was poorly managed and massively overhyped compared to what was actually delivered
Not 2 but 20 mins. The organiser of Lionel Messi’s tour of India has been detained, local police say, after the footballer’s brief appearance at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata ended in chaos.
Thousands of fans had paid up to 12,000 rupees (£100; $133 — several times the average Indian weekly salary) for access to the event, but ANI details that the 38-year-old Argentina and Inter Miami forward spent just 20 minutes in the stadium, where he was closely surrounded by a large group of people including club team-mates Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul.
Every time I see a new post about this, the time Messi was present reduces.
20->15-->10-->5-->2min
I heard he wasn't even there
I heard it was actually Ronaldo.
Actually it was Ronaldo’s bronze head statue.
I heard they brought out Pele's pinky toe, like a medieval relic.
I mean, you want a toe, I can get you a toe.
I heard it was salt bae
It was Rober-toe Carlos
There are ways, Dude. You don't wanna know about it, believe me.
Maybe messi is just like Slash, he can be everywhere at once.
He is no Ariaga or Ariaga ll for that matter.
I heard it was Ronaldinho
And Hasbulla.
Naa we mistaking John Cena for Messi now or what?
I heard it was just his bodyguard
The real Messi were the friends we made along the way
"Was Lionel even in the room with us?"
https://preview.redd.it/m22tmoyga17g1.jpeg?width=649&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f16f7d3d799aed17417e732ff37020cd81f8f503
I heard 3 minutes.
20 mins in the stadium, 2mins being visible.
I heard there wasn’t even an event for him to attend
Messi's form atomized after 0.8s into a flash of pure white light, teleporting him instantly.
It's not about he stayed there 20 min but he was surrounded by politicians, actor's actress like people are buying hefty price for those tickets even many of them bought double the price in black but instead of seeing him , they're showing actress dance,politicians long speech. At least it was better last night when he landed in Kolkata airport. I actually saw him more in the airport than in that stadium and it was worth it in 2'o clock 14°C freezing night on a bike to see him in the airport (I didn't go to that stadium for a costly ticket but now I think I saved a lot of money and time😂)
14°C is not freezing lmao
That's considered warm in Manchester haha
Smart!
Why do so many people choose to be born in India? I don't get it.
Salt lake stadium ?
Mormon Indians are a deadly combo
Expected Messi, got Messy
Things are starting to get.. Messi
Damn It…..it took 8 minutes too long write my pun.
I wrote a better one before you both but decided to let you guys post it this time.
It would've been amazing.
2 Messi minutes? Sounds like sex with me.
Fyre Festival India
Whole country is Fyre
Fair, the management and security for the event was lacklustre. Left due to safety concerns.
So 80000 people turn up just to see Messi for 2 mins if I was in the crowd I would be pissed as well... It's a scam.
Isn’t scamming acceptable in India?
DO NOT REDEEM
Please providings your bank details saar
Only if it's legally done by politicians and capitalists
This makes no sense. The majority of scammers in India are absolutely not politicians or capitalists lmao. And it’s still widely accepted in society, although still illegal
Where do you think the scam money is going.
Who told you it's widely accepted in society
The nice man from the FBI who rang up and helped me avoid jail time when my account had been hacked.
Depends doesn't it? I haven't read into it but if safety was a concern I wouldn't blame him.
Fair enough really
Yes.. and not the way some of the headlines are trying to sell this incident.
Straight up money grab.
At least he played. He sat out the entire match in Hong Kong. People were pissed
Ayyyyy same thing happened at the MLS All Stars game. It’s crazy people are surprised it keeps happening. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Lol, "poorly managed and massively overhyped" is a great description of India in general.
Great description of FIFA too. A perfect duo.
Now imagine fifa in India. Pure class.
oh u mean the bcci…..
who the hell is overhyping india?
Indian nationalists
Superpower 2020, remember that?
Got mad hyped up before the new update
America too.
What?! Another group of Indian men ripped off another group of Indian men? No way! Their so straight lace when it comes to business.
Just say scam and get it over with
*They're
wait what a country of billion people aren’t a homegenous group of scammers dedicated to ripping off my grandma????? other races and countries actually are individuals and not all the same person???….nah no way that’s only for the whites
Shhhh if they could read, they would be very angry
strait-laced
They have to scam even more harder to recuperate it lol
Kolkata, eh? Isn't that where they find all those scammers from 'Scammer Payback' on YouTube?
Yes, it's pretty much the scam center of the world.
Only China compares in terms of scams/scam centers.
Different countries specialize in different scams. Russia dominates cryptoscams and ransomware, Nigeria have been doing romance scams for decades.
Nigeria enters the chat.
Nigeria walked so India could run.
Definitely nowhere near as bad as China and India's scams.
It isn't nearly as successful as china or India in that department so that environment didn't flourish much there.
Are those seats not bolted to the frames or are they just clip on? Does everyone have a wrench with them or something?
Yes they are bolted but they are plastic seats so its quite "easy" to rip them off.
Honestly what did they pay for actually? To see a celebrity? It’s not like he was ought to perform like it’s the AGT. Maybe make smarter money choices next time.
He was supposed to MC an all-day interactive sport experience/festival. Not sure how such a thing is even logistically possible with one dude and a crowd of thousands, but that's what they paid for.
How the hell is he gonna MC something when he barely even talks and has the personality of a house plant?? The other goat from Arabia could probably pull it off.
the other guy would like to talk about himself all day that's for sure.
Source?
He was supposed to be around for 45 mins.
Where did the all-day come about, and Messi doesn't speak English much, how will he MC? Lol.
Can find the exact page where I read that yesterday, but here's a link to one slate of promises- https://news24online.com/sports/lionel-messi-fans-in-india-can-meet-argentina-star-but-ticket-prices-will-shock-you-price-for-one-photo-is-rs-10-lakhs-goat-tour-of-india-kolkata-delhi-hyderabad-mumbai/685984/
And there's a 0% chance they take any risk of him being injured in something like that
Could have had random ticket holders come on the field kick the ball a bit and get a autographed Pic and a selfie. That could have been dragged out for hours with everyone hoping their ticket gets picked. That is my first idea with 5 mins of effort.
Putting my thinking hat on, Messi's whatever tour/campaign people reached out to some company in india to organize few public events. Peripherals or nepos got wind of it and decided to organize this and because they are nepos/cronys, decided to set up this "event" and went ahead and advertised it for money without any kind of agreement from Messi or his people. Messi probably didnt agree to whatever they wanted to sell, but it was sold anyways, but now he has to turn around and fix all this shit because these are his fans.
Thinking the same. Was it like each fan was promised to get a selfie after kicking the ball on the field with him?
Good. India had a massive problem with celebrity worshipping.
Got messi alright.
HOW CAN THEY SCAM?
I dare someone to post ANYTHING that would make me go "ok, some day I would like to visit India."
Yeah that ain’t happening bro
I've cat at my home here
Indians scammed out of their hard earned money. Oh the irony.
I know for a fact Messi has body doubles. It really wouldn’t surprise me if it wasn’t even him at the event.
This is a very aladeen like news
https://i.redd.it/9b99z8ii617g1.gif
Remember, real champions eat at McDonald's. I'm lovin it.
Source?
messy scam the Indians ?
The organisers, people knew he'd be there for 15-30 mins and many of them are ready for this prices but he was surrounded by politicians , celebrities and people who actually paid for tickets couldn't even see him not even on the big screen
Don’t put your faith in professional athletes.
Fools being easily separated from their wallet
This is why the sports fans who are only following the superstar plays are the biggest glazers and losers. Players are very very very temporary. Teams are forever. It’s hard not to laugh at them. Actually - lol. It’s funny.
Imagine if this guy was there.
I bet it would be even worse.
Would it be really that different if he had stood around for 15 minutes and waved at people?
What kind of stadium construction do they have where people can rip seats off with their bare hands.?
None seem like bodybuilders either….Must be Chinese steel screws and bolts.
Or plastic that's been in the sun for a while? Doesn't need to be made by a specific country.
All the cold cuts in Kolkata are smelly. Please mom buy meat at the new deli
Man. What a messi event
Seems like they weren't happy to be.... scammed
Soccer fans are so goofy lol, the athletes are idolized more in soccer than any other medium on the planet.
Looks like they’re making a Messi
Are the seats not bolted down?
They were. Allegedly
This feels like a recurring theme now, either Messi's management is unscrupulous or he's in on it too
Those football fans are fucking idiots.
I don't think football fans are the issue here.
They are, look at what Frankfurt fans (German Hooligans) did at camp nou this week. Some were pissing in cups and throwing them at barça fans. That being said It was not as big of a scale at this event in india.
People who collect Vinyl are fucking idiots.
As a vinyl collector, I totally agree.
Yeah, but we ain't throwing fucking chairs in videos on the Internet just because we paid too much to hang out with some random celebrity who clearly gives zero fucks about us. lmfao
Sorry I was just joining in on the making sweeping statements about people's hobbys based off one incident trend you started.
Solid point. Apologies. I'll adjust my original comment accordingly.
Thank you!
No probs love you
What kind of event was it? Like a soccer game? Or did people buy tickets literally just to "see" him somewhere?
Lol definitely gave him a reason to definitely never go back.
India is a one-time visit for many people. I wonder why...
You should come visit
I have been to Chennai and Mumbai.
No thanks.
Well that’s a little Messi
They will go back to work tomorrow where they scam Americans DONT REDEEM IT!!!
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Wow. I bet a peace prize from an organization that grooms that kind of civility would be a major award.
Sandals were flying amok this day
The messers became the Messi
Why is this constantly changing the time they got? First it's 15, then 10, now 2? Come on bots
15 minutes*
They saw his dopleganger?
Why would they spend their money on such thing anyway?
Cool. This will motivate him to play longer!
kindly
Well, it certainly looks Messi.
This is why I watch soccer from home
Thats just them cleaning
Now he'll never come again, yeeesh
Was this a game? Was Messi playing in a game?
They started chucking feces real fast
Deserved. Understand the game and celebrate the game - not a fucking Popstar.
Looks pretty messi to me.
Messy situation.
Paid big ruples to see Messi
reminds me of that convo in Game of Thrones between Olenna Tyrell and Tyrion where she says "the masses need distraction or they will tear us all apart"
Based on the reaction of the lunatics in the stands, I would have left the stadium as well.
People act like crazed lunatics, get a life ...
Did they expect him to take a picture with all of them?
They crowd found another way to get Messy
Let me guess, people in the comments will somehow turn this into some stereotype and be openly racist towards Indians again, even though this type of riots are pretty common in UK for less valid reasons right?
People in the UK would use their consumer rights to get a refund because it isn't a third world country.
Good for them but the point here is people getting frustrated with the lackluster service they got after so much anticipation.
Imagine caring this much about someone that kicks a ball
True. Can’t believe people care about the most influential athlete of this generation. Embarrassing, really.
Fick Messi
Why did you redeem iiiiiiit
A scam in India. Some kind of sweet full cycle situation going on here.
At least nobody tried setting the stadium on fire.
Don’t go to Calcutta guys. It’s a bad time all around.
So now they don’t like it when they get scammed how the turntables have turned
So football fans in every country is braindead good to know
*are
Organizers need to be held accountable and, depending on the degree of his involvement with it all, Messi as well. Maybe he’s innocent, maybe he’s not. It warrants investigation.
But look at the lovely event, why wouldn’t Messi want to be more present?
Happened after he left
Another post just to trash Indians. Reddit is full of racist nerds.
I'm sorry but that was not my intention, just showing the frustration of people
Even if you posted a picture of a brick they would find a way to insult India and Indians
Hatred for strangers is a reflection of their own self hate
You been? I have, it sucks.