Kolkata: Football great Lionel Messi’s much awaited visit to Kolkata turned into a messy affair on Saturday morning after the Argentine captain was forced to cut-short his schedule at the Yuba Bharati Krirangan (Salt Lake Stadium), leaving fans disappointed and demanding refunds.

Messi, accompanied by his teammates from Inter Miami Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul, was supposed to take a victory lap around the stadium. Thousands of fans – many of them from other states – had purchased tickets to watch this event. However, scores of people, who had no right to be close to Messi, surrounded him. ADVERTISEMENT

As a result, people in the stands, who had paid money to watch the show, were deprived of even a proper glimpse of their star.

Realising that the situation was fast getting out of ha

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