Former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar did something different on another occasion. Gavaskar criticized Argentina World Cup winner Lionel Messi for not fulfilling his commitments and defended the organisers, blaming them for the accident.
Lionel Messi reached India for GOAT Tour. He was to start his tour from Kolkata on the day of his arrival i.e. 13th December and then proceed to Hyderabad on the same day. The next two days were scheduled for his visit to Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium and New Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium.
As planned, the tour was extremely successful, as Messi visited all these places and received immense love from his fans and football fanatics. However, it was not a pleasant start for the Argentinian star on the GOAT tour at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
Lionel Messi’s GOAT India tour gets off to a disappointing start in Kolkata
Kolkata is often referred to as the heart of Indian football or the ‘Mecca of Football’ in India. Lionel Messi’s visit to the City of Joy was the most awaited event of this decade, as over 50000 football fans gathered to catch a glimpse of the football icon.
During the Argentina legend’s visit to Kolkata’s Yuva Bharti Stadium (Salt Lake Stadium) with Inter Miami teammates Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul, he was billed for a two-hour show at the venue. However, during the event, the public turned on the politicians and celebrities who crowded around Messi, depriving thousands of ticket-paying fans of a glimpse of their favorite footballer.
The public became angry and threw water bottles in the stadium. After this, Messi suddenly had to leave the venue, due to which the crowd got further enraged and they entered the entire stadium and vandalized it.
Sunil Gavaskar wrote, “Everyone was blamed except the man who failed to honor his commitment.”
Following the unexpected incidents in Kolkata, former Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has blamed Lionel Messi for the accident instead of blaming the organizers for poor management and planning.
Writing to Sportstar, the former Indian batsman claimed that if Messi had agreed to stay for the stipulated time, he should not have left early, disappointing the fans. He also claimed that it is his and his team’s responsibility.
Sunil Gavaskar wrote, “Everyone was blamed except the man who failed to honor his commitment.”
He said, “What the agreement was is not public, but if he had to stay there for an hour and leave much earlier than that, then the real culprit was he and his crew.”
“There was no security threat to him or his team” – Sunil Gavaskar
Even Sunil Gavaskar was unwilling to accept the fact that there were any security concerns and that Messi never faced any kind of threat, especially from the public, who spent thousands to get a glimpse of him. He further said that Messi could have done something like circling the field or taking a penalty shot.
“Yes, he was surrounded by politicians and so-called VIPs, but there was no security threat to him or his colleagues,” he wrote.
“Did he simply have to walk around the stadium, or do something concrete like take a penalty kick? If it was the latter, the people around him would have automatically followed, and the crowd would have seen their hero do exactly what they came to see.”
Sunil Gavaskar also believes that the organizers should not be blamed as Messi’s tour went well in the other three cities where it was planned as the commitments made by Argentina were met.
“Other presentations went smoothly as commitments were met,” Gavaskar said.
“So before blaming fellow Indians in Kolkata, it is worth checking whether the promises from both sides were actually fulfilled,” he concluded.
Also Read: IPL Auction 2026 gets late changes as BCCI adds 19 new players at the last minute; The franchises were stunned
