Reasons for Messi mess in Kolkata: Neta clans' selfie rush, VIP culture, outsider entry; fans feel cheated

KOLKATA: Almost everything that could have possibly gone wrong at Salt Lake stadium on Saturday went wrong, as revealed by a post-mortem by TOI 24 hours after the massive Messi mess.Those who had a ringside view of how the mayhem unfolded were near-unanimous about the origin of the trouble. Someone from the crowd of hangers-on of the politicians and the organisers, who were near Argentine soccer icon Lionel Messi, was pestering him for an autograph on a T-shirt when the pen scratched his body. That immediately alerted Messi's security phalanx, who "suggested" that security was not up to the mark and things could get dangerous for him. It was after this incident that Messi told event organiser Satadru Dutta, now in police custody, that he wanted to leave the stadium. The 60,000-odd spectators, who were in the dark about what was going on, vented their ire on the stadium and its furniture after waiting in vain for their idol to come out again.Officials dealing with the aftermath of the vandalism and violence, which left several cops injured, were again near-unanimous that liberal distribution of 'VIP passes' to netas and organisers and their extended clans triggered a chain of events leading to the disaster.

A 'VIP pass' holder was seen clutching at Messi's hand for a selfie when the football star wanted to wave at his fans.Things then worsened superfast, with people who did not have tickets rushing into the stadium after the trouble started.Chaos, however, had begun much earlier. When the white Audi carrying Messi and his Inter Miami teammates Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul entered the stadium at 11.30 am, it was immediately surrounded by VIPs, politicians, police officers and those accompanying them.