Following the chaos during Lionel Messi's visit to Kolkata, Mumbai Police have beefed up security in the city for the Argentine legend's events on Sunday, December 14.
Messi began his three-day GOAT visit to India on Saturday as he visited Kolkata's Salt Lake and the Rajiv Gandhi International Cricket Stadium in Hyderabad.
The city police are implementing stringent security measures, like not allowing water bottles, metals, coins inside the stadiums and setting up watchtowers to keep an eye on the crowd, officials said.
The police stated that they are taking extra care following the chaotic situation in Kolkata. Messi will be visiting Mumbai on Sunday and will be present at the Cricket Club of India (Brabourne Stadium) for a Padel GOAT Cup event. This will be followed by a celebrity match.
The Argentine star is set to travel to the Wankhede Stadium at around 5 PM.
"In view of Lionel Messi's visit to Mumbai, the police are geared up and have put in place a high level of security arrangements in and around the stadiums located in South Mumbai. Considering the chaos that prevailed in Kolkata and the security breach, we have deployed World Cup-level security arrangements at Brabourne and Wankhede stadiums," an official said, according to news agency PTI.
The city police force has deployed more than 2,000 of its personnel near and around both the venues, the official said.
The official further highlighted that the city is equipped to host such an event, citing the examples of the victory parade of the ICC World Cup-winning Indian team and the World Cup final match at the Wankhede Stadium, in which over one lakh cricket fans had gathered. We are prepared to handle a large crowd of fans.
"We are trying to avoid the errors that occurred in the past," the official said. There is no place to sneak inside the stadiums in Mumbai like the Kolkata stadium, the official stated.
The official said that the city police is expecting 33,000 spectators at the Wankhede Stadium and over 4,000 at Brabourne Stadium. Moreover, fans are set to flock to the vicinity of the stadiums with more than 30,000 people likely to be outside and around the stadiums just to have a glimpse of the football sensation.
