Kolkata&rsquo;s relationship with football is deeply emotional, celebratory on the surface and combustible beneath. When a global football icon arrives, the city does not merely assemble &mdash; it surges. That surge, repeatedly over decades, has turned moments of sporting celebration into scenes of disorder, not because the city cannot manage crowds, but because of a persistent imbalance between public access and privileged proximity.
The recent uproar surrounding Lionel Messi&rsquo;s visit to Kolkata has once again exposed a familiar fault line. The frustration was not driven solely by crowd size or the brevity of the superstar&rsquo;s appearance, but by the perception that visibility itself had become a privilege. Fans who had paid for the event and waited for hours found their view obstructed by layers of security, officials, and VIP entourages. The sense that the moment was being consumed within an exclusive bubble quickly transformed excitement into resentment.
Crowds can tolerate delays, restrictions, and security protocols. What they struggle to accept is the feeling of being reduced to spectators of privilege rather than participants in a public event. Once that perception takes hold, every barricade feels insulting, and every VIP photo opportunity appears as an appropriation of a collective moment.
This pattern is not new. Pel&eacute;&rsquo;s visit to Kolkata in the 1970s, now wrapped in nostalgia, carried similar undertones. While the match at Eden Gardens became legendary, the chaos unfolded away from the pitch. Officials, ministers, and influential figures crowded corridors and restricted zones, treating access to the football legend as a status symbol. Crowd-control challenges were compounded by attempts to manage pressure through secrecy &mdash; diversion routes, sudden exits, and unannounced changes &mdash; leaving waiting fans feeling misled and sidelined.
Maradona&rsquo;s visits decades later revealed the consequences of weak event control. While remembered today for their carnival-like aura, those appearances also saw reports of disorder, thrown objects, and tense stand-offs. Such reactions are not inherent to football crowds; they emerge when the basic social contract collapses &mdash; when people feel denied the experience they were promised while watching others receive preferential treatment.
Together, the visits of Pel&eacute;, Maradona, and Messi reveal a consistent truth about Kolkata: the crowd is not the problem &mdash; hierarchy is. The city&rsquo;s football culture is participatory. Fans do not arrive merely to attend; they come to belong. VIP culture, however, transforms shared emotion into a spectacle reserved for a few, pushing the public to the margins.
The triggers have remained constant across generations:
VIP obstruction blocking sightlines and inflaming resentment
Secrecy and diversion that leave fans feeling deceived
Limited or unclear access creating a sense of being taken for granted
Loss of visible control that allows frustration to turn physical
Kolkata is not uniquely unruly; it is uniquely expressive. When treated with transparency, respect, and inclusion, the city delivers some of the most passionate and beautiful welcomes in football. When people feel used &mdash; asked to pay, wait, and then watch privilege consume the moment &mdash; the response is equally loud, but far less forgiving.
The recurring lesson from these iconic visits is not about tighter policing alone. It is about choreography. A football legend&rsquo;s visit to Kolkata succeeds only when the crowd is treated as the centre of the event, not as an obstacle to be managed while power poses for photographs.

Pelé, Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona in Kolkata

From Pelé to Maradona to Messi, VIP culture and poor planning keep igniting crowd unrest

Messi Visit Revives Kolkata’s Football Chaos

From Pelé to Maradona to Messi, VIP culture and poor planning keep igniting crowd unrest

December 14, 2025 | 10:30 IST