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Governor slams 'commercialisation' of Messi visit in Kolkata
The Statesman Siliguri
|December 14, 2025
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose on Saturday slammed the organisers for "callously commercialising" the GOAT India tour of Football Icon Lionel Messi and completely "ignoring" the sentiments of fans after chaos erupted at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata during the event.
"The organizers have callously gone the way of commercialisation of Messi's visit here and ignored the sentiments of the fans. After all it is fans who make an icon an icon. Fans have the right to see their hero. Knowing all these things the organisers only focused on moneymaking, which a civilised society cannot endure," CV Ananda Bose said.
Governor CV Ananda Bose urged people not to blame the fans for their reaction after authorities failed to meet expectations.
"The fan mentality should be understood properly. We cannot blame them. They came with great expectations to see their hero. The concerned authorities did not take care of these instances, which is where the failure lies. The organisers are all those associated with the event," he said.
This story is from the December 14, 2025 edition of The Statesman Siliguri.
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