‘Had to run to save my life’, Charles Antony’s pain expressed over Lionel Messi’s program
Desk. The grand event organized to welcome football great Lionel Messi at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata was supposed to be a memorable celebration, but the event became a story of fear and chaos for many. This day proved to be the most frightening experience of life for Indian-origin singer Charles Antony, who came to India specially from London to perform in this event.
Malayalam singer Charles Antony, who sings in 18 languages, had prepared a Spanish song especially for Messi, which he was going to sing in Kolkata. Singer claims that the situation worsened to such an extent that he had to run to save his life instead of standing on the stage. Crowd control completely failed and an atmosphere of chaos was created in the stadium.
According to Antony, the huge number of spectators and lack of security arrangements made the situation more dangerous. Thousands of fans, who had bought expensive tickets, became angry after not getting even a glimpse of their favorite player. Within no time, bottles, food packets and other things started being thrown in the stadium. During this time, Messi, Luis Suarez and Rodrigo de Paul were also seen surrounded by the crowd.
The singer told that the police advised him to immediately go to a safe place. Without any help, he gathered his music equipment and ran towards the middle of the field to escape the attacks from the audience gallery. Due to the pendant hanging around his neck, people started considering him as an organiser, which further increased his problems.
This experience was bitter for Charles Antony because earlier he had sung in front of Diego Maradona in Kolkata in 2016, where the program was completely organized and safe. This time the situation was completely opposite. Although he was successful in singing a few songs, he did not get a chance to sing the special song prepared for Messi.
After this whole incident, the singer had to change the hotel and could not even contact the organizers. He clarified that he had not taken any fees for this event, only arrangements for travel and accommodation were made. Despite this, this day became a painful memory for him.
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