Kolkata : West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said she was deeply disturbed and shocked by the mismanagement at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium during an event featuring football icon Lionel Messi, apologising to the Argentine star and sports fans after chaos erupted inside the venue.
Banerjee said she was on her way to the Vivekananda Yuvabharati Krirangan along with thousands of football lovers when reports of disorder and crowd unrest emerged. I am deeply disturbed and shocked by the mismanagement witnessed today at Salt Lake Stadium,” Banerjee said. I sincerely apologise to Lionel Messi, as well as to all sports lovers and his fans, for the unfortunate incident.
The chief minister announced the formation of a high-level enquiry committee headed by retired Calcutta High Court judge Justice Ashim Kumar Ray, with the state’s Chief Secretary and Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Hill Affairs) as members. The BJP’s West Bengal unit was quick to react to the chaos at the Messi event, accusing the Trinamool government of mismanagement and alleging that it had eroded Bengal’s historic football culture.
The post, featuring a video clip of the unruly crowd at the stadium, read, “Sob khelar sera Bangalir tumi football. Bengal and football were always synonymous. But then @MamataOfficial came to power and that culture was completely destroyed. Now a World Cup-winning football star has come to the city of football, and there is complete mismanagement. Is this a conspiracy to destroy every aspect of Bengali identity, including our love for football?”
Due to extremely poor management, Messi was not even allowed to stay for the programme and was taken away. People poured onto the stadium grounds, vandalising chairs and tearing down posters. By God’s grace, no major tragedy occurred,” Malviya said, demanding the resignation of State Sports Minister Aroop Biswas. What was billed as a marquee event for football fans descended into chaos after Messi left the field in under 10 minutes, triggering anger among sections of the crowd.
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