Lionel Messi cuts Kolkata appearance short after security breach
Lionel Messi's much-hyped trip to Kolkata ended almost as soon as it began.
Just 25 minutes after arriving at Salt Lake Stadium, Messi had to leave because of a major security mess: at least 100 to 120 unauthorized people swarmed restricted areas for photos.
Event organizer Satadru Dutta said he deeply regretted hosting the event in Kolkata, blaming political interference and poor management, even though top-level security was promised.
Satadru Dutta calls event missed opportunity
According to Dutta, things got so out of hand that even a sports minister crossed the line while posing with Messi.
Feeling unsafe and uncomfortable in all the chaos, and with close to a billion dollars in insurance coverage on the line, Messi's team decided it wasn't worth the risk and left early.
Dutta called it a missed opportunity, especially since similar events in other cities ran smoothly thanks to better planning.