Chaos erupts during Lionel Messi’s India tour as angry fans chuck chairs on pitch

FootballSports
13 Dec 2025 • 8:34 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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Lionel Messi’s tour of India descended into chaos on Saturday when fans started throwing objects onto the pitch.

The footballer was performing a walk of honour at Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata, as fans who had paid up to 12,000 rupees (£100) to catch a glimpse of the star watched on.

However, the crowd became hostile after the footballer, who was obscured by a large group of officials and celebrities, left 20 minutes after arriving.

Video from ANI news agency showed fans throwing ripped up stadium seats and other objects onto the pitch, whilst several people that had climbed over a fence surrounding the playing field hurled objects.

“Only leaders and actors were surrounding Messi … Why did they call us then?” a fan said.

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