Hyderabad, Dec 13 (IANS) The GOAT Tour of Lionel Messi reached Hyderabad with the Argentine football legend making an appearance at the Rajiv Gandhi International stadium in Uppal in Hyderabad on Saturday, despite his first stop in Kolkata causing huge controversy after his blink-and-miss performance at the Salt Lake Stadium, for which fans had forked out huge amounts for tickets.
Messi reached the Telangana capital earlier in the afternoon and appeared in many photo-ops, seen kicking a ball with kids and interacting and chilling with one of the officials. He also met Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Telangana Chief Minister Revant Reddy.
At the Uppal Stadium, the Argentine star stayed inside one of the VIP boxes and was shown waving at the camera to make a fleeting appearance on the big screen inside the stadium and broadcast visuals as two teams played a match.
It was apparent that the organisers of Messi’s India GOAT Tour are trying to project that there was no issue with the tour and the riots in the stadium in Kolkata were an aberration. On Saturday, there were reports that one of the main organizers of the GOAT Tour was arrested by Kolkata police for alleged mismanagement at the event in Salt Lake Stadium.
Earlier in the day, Satadru Dutta, the principal organiser of the mega event held at Salt Lake Stadium on the northern outskirts of Kolkata earlier in the day, featuring Argentine football star Lionel Messi, was arrested after chaos and vandalism broke out at the venue over high ticket prices and limited access to the football icon, an official said.
Confirming the arrest, Additional Director General (Law & Order) Jawed Shamim said that a first information report (FIR) would be registered in connection with the incident. “A thorough investigation will be carried out to ascertain the roots of the mismanagement that ultimately led to the chaos. The police are taking the matter very seriously. Every person found responsible for the mismanagement and the resulting disorder will be booked,” Shamim said.
Messi’s visit to Kolkata ended in chaos after agitated spectators, angered over limited access to the Argentine despite purchasing tickets at what they described as exorbitant prices, went on a rampage inside the stadium. With the situation spiralling out of control, police were forced to resort to a large-scale lathi charge and deploy personnel from the Rapid Action Force (RAF) to restore order. In the wake of the unrest, Messi left the stadium earlier than scheduled.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was on her way to the stadium at the time of the incident. However, after being informed about the ruckus and vandalism, she instructed her driver to turn back. Shortly thereafter, the Chief Minister announced the constitution of a judicial committee to probe the mismanagement that led to the chaos.
The probe panel will be headed by Justice (Retd.) Ashim Kumar Ray of the Calcutta High Court. The state Chief Secretary, Manoj Pant, and Additional Secretary to the Home and Hill Affairs Department, Nandini Chakraborty, will be the other two members of the committee.
“The committee will conduct a detailed inquiry into the incident, fix responsibility, and recommend measures to prevent the recurrence of such incidents in the future. Once again, I extend my heartfelt apologies to all sports lovers,” the Chief Minister said in a statement.
—IANS
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