Oh Calcutta! From Pele to Messi: Kolkata Dates Sports Mayhem

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From the 1967 Eden Gardens chaos to Vinod Kambli’s tears in 1996 and the Messi mess of 2025, Kolkata’s love for sport has repeatedly slipped into rage, entitlement and organised disorder.

By NIRENDRA DEV

New Delhi, December 14, 2025 — Kolkata crowd going crazy is nothing new. What is new is the refusal to admit that the city’s sporting disasters are not accidents — they are patterns.

Leftist politics taught generations that “time pass” is a virtue and accountability optional. Sport became the perfect excuse: a release valve for idleness, entitlement and mob power.

History bears this out.

When Pelé landed in Calcutta in September 1977, chaos erupted even before he stepped outside the airport. According to The Telegraph, the crowd stormed the bay where the aircraft was parked while ministers, club officials, their cronies and sections of the press — nearly a thousand strong — created more disorder than genuine fans.

Pelé landed shortly after 7 pm but could only leave the airport close to midnight. Lakhs lined VIP Road. When police secretly diverted his car via Jessore Road, the waiting crowd turned violent. Police vehicles were vandalised. Everyone wanted proximity to power — or Pelé.

Fast forward 48 years.

December 13, 2025, felt eerily familiar. Many in the unruly crowd were no random football lovers. They were “well-connected”: Trinamool syndicate men, relatives of cops and ministers, local celebrities, quiz masters, singers, actor-turned-netas — with a sprinkling from BJP and Left camps too.

Kolkata’s sporting tragedies are long and bloody.

In 1967, Eden Gardens overflowed with fake tickets. A 60,000-capacity stadium held over 80,000. The crowd spilled onto the field and overwhelmed police.

In 1980, a Mohun Bagan–East Bengal derby clash into a stampede. With no segregation and poor policing, 16 fans died — Bengal’s darkest sporting chapter.

In 1996, the World Cup semi-final collapse against Sri Lanka pushed fans into fury. Bottles rained onto the field. Clive Lloyd awarded the match to Sri Lanka. Vinod Kambli walked off in tears — a moment Kolkata will never outlive.

Later came the 2007 IFA Shield abandonment and the 2012 violence that injured dozens.

Oh Calcutta! From Pelé to Messi, the names change. The chaos doesn’t.

(This is an opinion piece, and views expressed are those of the author only)