Kolkata: The offer of complimentary tickets has done little to revive interest in India’s international friendly against Uruguay, with a sizeable number of seats still lying unsold ahead of Tuesday’s clash at Salt Lake Stadium.The announcement of free tickets by CM Suvendu Adhikari came on Saturday night for people who missed Lionel Messi’s much-hyped but chaotic appearance in Kolkata last Dec, even as the city was witnessing a muted turnout for India’s high-profile friendly match against Brazil. Just over 51,000 spectators attended the Brazil game at the 85,000-capacity stadium.For many fans, the weekday timing of the Uruguay match is proving to be a major deterrent. Kinjal Das, a class 11 student from Birati who attended the Messi event on Dec 13 and also watched India take on Brazil, said, “I have school and my parents have office. Even if we get complimentary passes, it will be difficult to attend a match on a weekday,” he said.Souvik Mondal of New Alipore had spent Rs 18,000 on two tickets for the Messi event. He said, “I was expecting some form of refund after the SIT investigation. Instead, we are being offered complimentary tickets for another match. I had also watched the Brazil game, but I have no plans to skip office for Tuesday’s match.”Saikat Harh, who had bought Rs 5,000 tickets for himself and eight office colleagues, said the offer could not compensate for their experience at the Messi event. “We could barely see Messi amid the crowd around him. It was extremely disappointing. With all due respect to Uruguay, a complimentary ticket for another match cannot make up for what happened that day. We will skip Tuesday’s game,” Harh said.Uruguay’s visit though adds another major international fixture to Kolkata’s football calendar. The two-time world champions are currently ranked 20th in the FIFA rankings. The La Celeste, however, had a group stage exit in the last two world cups.Tickets for Tuesday’s match have been priced between Rs 749 and Rs 1,699, depending on the stand and location. For India, the match offers another opportunity to face a traditionally strong South American side after the Brazil encounter, but the response from the stands is yet to match the hype generated by the Selecao’s visit.Bengal sports minister Indranil Khan on X said, “As committed by Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari, as a goodwill gesture, complimentary passes will be provided for the India vs Uruguay match scheduled to be held on 6th Oct, 2026 at Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan to all football lovers who had purchased tickets for Lionel Messi GOAT tour to Kolkata on 13th Dec, 2026. The physical passes for the match maybe collected on 5th Oct between 11 am and 5 pm, upon production of a valid govt photo identity proof and the previous event paid ticket.” He also provided a list of 8 places from where these passes can be collected, including Salt Lake stadium.
