Sometimes cricket and sometimes football, Kolkata’s stadiums have become witnesses of accidents.
Lionel Messi Even Chaos: There has been a craze for football in India for many years. Even though India is far behind in the world in this game, there is no dearth of fans. In such a situation, when the biggest star of world football like Lionel Messi comes to India after years, it is natural to feel anxious, restless and curious to see him. When Messi arrived in Kolkata on 13 December, thousands of fans gathered at the Salt Lake Stadium to see him. But within a short time the entire event turned into a shameful incident, where chairs were thrown, bottles were thrown and there was a lot of ruckus in the stadium. But the plains of Kolkata have an old history of accidents and violence.
Violence, stampede and death in Eden Gardens
in Kolkata Salt Lake Stadium Before the construction of Eden Gardens, all football matches were also held there. One such match was played on 16 August 1980, in which the two biggest teams of the city were face to face. The stadium was completely filled for this clash between East Bengal and Mohun Bagan, known as ‘Calcutta Derby’. In this match of Calcutta Football League, the referee’s decisions enraged the fans of both the teams and within just a few minutes, the war of words turned into a scuffle. As soon as the violence started, a stampede broke out in the stadium and 16 football fans died in this entire incident.
There was a fight between the players themselves
On October 7, 2001, a scene was seen at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, which hardly anyone could have imagined. East Bengal and Brazilian club Palmeiras were competing in the final of the IFA Shield. Only about half an hour of play took place and Palmyraaj was leading 1-0. At the same time, a player from the Brazilian team hit a player from East Bengal. This instigated the entire atmosphere. All the players and support staff of East Bengal reached out to deal with the Brazilian player. The players and coaching staff of Palmiraj also came to fight with sticks and chairs and a scuffle started. Seeing the situation going out of control, the police also entered the field and then started lathi charge. The police especially targeted Brazilian players and coaches, who appeared to be more violent. The Brazilian players eventually hid in the dressing room and the final was cancelled.
Fire in the stadium during the World Cup semi-finals
Not only football, but also a lot of hue and cry has been seen in cricket matches. A few years after the tragic accident of Calcutta derby, in 1996, the World Cup semi-final was being played between India and Sri Lanka. Team India had reached the point of defeat in this match and all this could not be tolerated by the spectators. Within a short time, the fans present there set the stadium on fire, seeing which the rest of the spectators and security personnel were shocked. The match was stopped there and then it could not start again. Sri Lanka was declared the winner.
Arson due to fake tickets
On January 1, 1967, a test match was being played between India and West Indies. This was the second day of the match and 80 thousand spectators had reached the stadium to witness it, whereas its capacity was only about 59 thousand. What happened was that some officials had done black marketing of many fake tickets, due to which more tickets were sold than the capacity of the stadium. In such a situation, when the crowd in the stadium became too large, a situation of pushing and shoving started and within a few moments the situation went out of control. The police resorted to lathi charge to control the spectators but the spectators retaliated, due to which the policemen ran away. What happened next, the spectators vandalized and set fire to the stadium. The match had to be stopped for some time and could be restarted with great difficulty.
Ruckus on Sachin’s wicket
In 1999, Eden Gardens again witnessed chaos. This time there was a competition between India and Pakistan. During this, there was an uproar when Sachin Tendulkar was run out. Sachin was taking the third run but then he collided with Pakistani bowler Shoaib Akhtar near the crease and he fell there. Then the ball hit the stumps. The third umpire declared Sachin run out, which enraged the fans. Many fans entered the pitch, while some started vandalizing it. However, this time the security personnel immediately took the situation under control and threw the hooligans out of the stadium.