Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday (December 17, 2025), defended West Bengal Chief Minister and government over the Salt Lake Stadium fiasco in Kolkata last week during football legend Lionel Messi’s visit. Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari was not allowed to enter the stadium on Wednesday (December 17, 2025) to assess the damage.
The National General Secretary of Trinamool Congress said the incident at the Messi event was unexpected and had lapses from both the organisers and the police managing the event.
“Within one hour of the chaos, the Chief Minister publicly apologised on her social media handle. I do not think any other CM in the country has set an example like this, where she has the courtesy to apologise to the people,” Mr. Banerjee said. He also added that the incident was unwanted and has brought shame to West Bengal on the world stage because of a section of people.
Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns over chaos at Lionel Messi event at Salt Lake Stadium
Mr. Banerjee also accused that after the multiple stampedes in India in other States, no CM has ever apologised publicly. “But our CM does not have any ego, she recognised that the State Government had some negligence in the incident... Due to some people’s overenthusiasm, the common people who bought tickets with their hard-earned money could not see Messi,” Mr. Banerjee added. He assured that the TMC government will take action against every person responsible for the chaos.
