West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has announced free tickets for the India-Uruguay international friendly on October 6 for spectators who purchased tickets for Lionel Messi’s Kolkata event last year but were unable to see the Argentine superstar. The announcement came after India’s high-profile friendly against Brazil at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday.
The India-Brazil fixture had attracted significant attention, with Brazil bringing a strong squad featuring several established stars. However, sizeable sections of the 85,000-capacity Salt Lake Stadium remained empty, with Adhikari later saying that around 20,000 seats had deliberately been left unsold to avoid overcrowding and ensure better crowd management.
Adhikari said around 22,000 spectators who were affected by the problems surrounding Messi’s visit would be given free tickets for the India-Uruguay match. The beneficiaries are expected to be fans who had purchased tickets online for last year’s event but were unable to watch Messi because of the chaos at the stadium.
“I want to convey this through the media to the people who missed out on the Messi event, some 22,000 of them — we (the West Bengal Government) will announce a WhatsApp number through which they can collect their free tickets for the Uruguay match (on October 6),” Adhikari said as per Sportstar.
India will return to the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday, October 6, to take on two-time FIFA World Cup champions Uruguay. The match follows India’s 0-4 defeat to five-time world champions Brazil on Saturday, giving Khalid Jamil’s side another opportunity to face elite South American opposition.
