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South Kolkata District Congress Committee members hold a protest over the Lionel Messi event at Salt Lake stadium on Saturday where spectators resorted to large-scale chaos and vandalism, in Kolkata, Monday, Dec. 15, 2025.
Kolkata: Alleging mismanagement by the organisers of the Lionel Messi event at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata that ended in chaos, 100 members of a sports lovers' body staged a protest in the city on Monday.
The sports lovers, who said that the image of the city was sullied by the disruptions on December 13, blamed TMC ministers Sujit Bose and Aroop Biswas for the fiasco, and demanded that whoever was responsible for the vandalism be brought to book.
The protestors, including a number of youngsters, raised slogans and demonstrated before the statue of Indian football legend Gostho Paul for half an hour.
"Thousands of football lovers of Bengal failed to a have a glimpse of Messi and his fellow Argentine stars due to the overzealousness of some influential individuals," said Sabuj Goswami, a protestor.
"Prime organiser of the event Satadru Bose was arrested. We demand that others responsible for such a loss of face for Kolkata also be punished," said Goswami, who introduced himself as a member of a sports club in Kolkata.