Messi, De Paul and Suarez head to Mumbai after memorable Hyderabad event| Sports News

Lionel Messi India Visit LIVE Updates: Will we see a repeat of Kolkata in Hyderabad? We will get to know that soon! Hopefully, police and officials in Hyderabad saw what happened at the Salt Lake Stadium, and don’t repeat the same behaviour. Its a fan event after all!

Lionel Messi India Visit LIVE Updates: Messi has already arrived in Hyderabad. He will arrive at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium at 7pm for a friendly exhibition match.

Lionel Messi India Visit LIVE Updates: The main organiser has been arrested, and has reportedly promised to offer ticket refunds to fans in Kolkata. West Bengal DGP Rajiv Kumar revealed to the media, “Many fans believed they would see Messi play. The situation is under control now. The organisers have said that refunds will be provided, and they are giving this assurance in writing.”

Lionel Messi India Visit LIVE Updates: Speaking to ANI, a fan said, “We have come here at the airport to see Messi. He is a football legend, and for football fans, it is like a dream come true. I have a request to the Telangana Government that the way he had to leave early due to the mismanagement in Kolkata, so Telangana security should have better management… The CM is also a football player, and it was his dream also to play with Messi… A friendly match will be played between the CM and Messi…”

Lionel Messi India Visit LIVE Updates: Messi’s visit in Hyderabad today will see him feature in a 7v7 exhibition match at the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, which will also see Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy participate. Messi will be there for a short period of time. The evening will also have a music concert for Messi.

Indian football’s governing body releases a statement of ‘deep concern’ regarding what took place at Salt Lake Stadium, but also holds itself at an arm’s length from what took place by pointing it out as a ‘private event organised by a PR agency’.

The statement also mentions clearance wasn’t sought from the AIFF for this tour.

Reports from Hyderabad indicating Messi and team’s aircraft has indeed reached the airport in Hyderabad, and that means Messi will soon depart for the first portion of his responsibilities in the city soon.

Rahul Gandhi will also be making an appearance at the Messi tour event in Hyderabad, and was pictured being received by CM Revanth Reddy. Messi also expected to land in Hyderabad very soon, just official confirmation awaited.

B Shivadhar Reddy speaks to media regarding how the Telangana police intends to ensure peace and order during Messi’s visit to the city, noting Kolkata and saying that his team had reviewed what went wrong in West Bengal.

Details emerge from players who were nearby Messi as the on-field visit at Salt Lake was going down. Former Indian international footballer Lalkamal Bhowmick said to Livemint:

“Messi looked happy initially as he met with the players. A little later, I heard Messi saying to his team, ‘Since I came inside, I am only walking this side and that side. What is happening?’”

Additionally, Dipendu Biswas, who played alongside Bhowmick for Diamond Harbour All-Stars, explained that the fan-forward perspective was made to the organisers, but fell on deaf ears:

“I told Satadru (Dutta) firstly to do a celebratory lap in a open jeep around the stadium with Messi, Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul. One must understand this a fan’s event and they have come to watch Messi by spending thousands of money.”

Security tightened and upscaled at Hyderabad’s Uppal Stadium to ensure there is no repeats of what happened in Kolkata. A three-tier security provision, and massive surveillance to ensure law and order.

But the concern the organisers will be wary of is ensuring they do not have more heat pushed towards them: despite the security, can they place the fan experience at the centre of the event?

Strong words from CV Ananda Bose, who lists out a series of tasks that a judicial enquiry must take, as well as what exactly the response to this situation must be. He also argues that while organiser should take responsibility, that a lot of blame must also be held by the government and police:

‘Police have failed the people of Bengal. Police have failed their own government. Police have failed the Constitution. Police have failed the law and order.’

The situation in Kolkata will certainly have put Hyderabad and Telangana police on high alert regarding the situation, and now the focus will be to ensure the second leg of this tour is better handled and managed than the first. A young fan voices this fear, and points out that CM Reddy’s presence might ensure things are smoother.

Suvendu Adhikari, who serves as BJP’s leader in West Bengal and as Leader of the Opposition, doesn’t hold back in his criticism of the ‘loot-fest’ at Salt Lake Stadium. A list of demands: full refund for fans, arrest of the organisers and sports minister Arup Biswas, and the resignation of Mamata Banerjee herself.

At the same press conference, WB Police ADG Jawed Shamim explains that the first priority was to restore a sense of calm surrounding the situation, and that the chaos was restricted to the grounds at Salt Lake Stadium. With that being the case, he says the focus will shift to an assessment of the event as a whole, but that details will not be freely shared just yet.

Big news from Kolkata. West Bengal Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar spoke at a press conference and has made it clear that the management and organisers will be the ones held accountable and responsible for the incident. He also mentions that the management of the event has been ‘detained’ and will provide writing that refunds will be on the cards following an investigation into the matter.

Messi will be on his way to Hyderabad, where he will face a similar schedule in terms of arriving, having a meet-and-greet, and subsequently arriving at the Uppal Stadium where he will be greeted by CM Revanth Reddy. CM Reddy will also participate in a penalty shootout with Messi as part of a series of events organised — but how any of that changes in the wake of this afternoon in Kolkata will be the focus.

Looks like some of the chaos is bleeding out of Salt Lake as well. New videos show that fans appeared outside the Kolkata Hyatt in order to protest the mismanagament, and needed to be charged down by the police.

While Messi has taken the focus, it has also shoved a significant issue with the future of Indian football aside – a point brought up by a fan earlier today, and raised time and again by detractors of the statue erected in Kolkata, with investment in domestic and grassroots football in the country always seeming to be lacking. A big debate, and one that will see a lot more firepower after the anger in Kolkata today.

Kunal Ghosh of the TMC responds by saying he understands why emotions ran high, but also says such an incident only opens the doors for opposition political parties to ‘bad-mouth Kolkata’. Lines being drawn thick and early following the situation.

Minister Sukanta Majumder takes aim at the TMC, who had plenty of visible party members on-field and involved with the Kolkata leg of Messi’s tour. With mismanagement being the term bandied around here, there is no doubt big questions will be asked of the West Bengal government as well for their role in it.

For Messi and his camp, the focus will now turn to travelling to Hyderabad, which is his next venue on the tour. Pictures show Messi enroute to the Kolkata airport, but as of this moment, there is a feeling that the future of this tour hangs in the balance.

The RAF had arrived to try and control the stadium with mass vandalisation taking place. Awaiting more news from live images.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was intended to meet Messi as well, but that is not something that transpired. After the violence in Salt Lake, she has issued a statement, making apologies to Messi, and calling out the ‘mismanagement’ at the stadium.

She also promises the enquiry that was expected as a result of these scenes.

There will be dread for the fans who have bought tickets for the next three events in Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi. What happens with those?