Legendary Indian cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has taken Argentina’s iconic footballer Lionel Messi to the cleaners over the chaos that erupted during his visit to the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on his GOAT tour. Gavaskar targeted Messi for not honoring his commitment.

Messi, Luis Suarez, and Rodrigo De Paul came to Salt Lake Stadium on December 13 for what was advertised as a two-hour fan event. Instead, the visit was cut short for reasons that were never revealed, leaving thousands of ticket-buying fans with only a fleeting view of their idol.

The fallout was unpleasant. Angry fans grew rowdy outside the stadium, Kolkata police detained tour organizer Satadru Dutta, and the blame was soon moved to politicians and VIPs gathered around Messi. However, Gavaskar is not buying it.

The former India captain stated that if Messi promised to stay for a specified period of time but left early, he and his entourage must bear responsibility.

“Everyone was blamed except the person who failed to honor his commitment. What the agreement was isn’t public, but if he was meant to be there for an hour and left well before that, then the real culprit was he and his entourage,” Gavaskar wrote in his column in Sportstar.

Additionally, Gavaskar dismissed allegations of security issues, stating that Messi was not in danger and could have taken a penalty or simply walked around the ground.

“Yes, he was surrounded by politicians and so-called VIPs, but there was no security threat to him or his entourage. Was he supposed to simply walk around the stadium or do something tangible, like take a penalty kick? If it were the latter, those around him would automatically have had to move, and the crowd would have seen their hero do what they had come to watch,” Gavaskar added.

Gavaskar also defended the organizers, pointing out that Messi’s appearances in Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi happened without any problems.

“The other appearances went smoothly because commitments were met. So before blaming fellow Indians in Kolkata, it’s worth checking whether promises on both sides were actually kept,” Gavaskar added.