Messi ‘Unhappy’ With Being Touched at Kolkata Event, Arrested Organiser Tells SIT

Kolkata: Lionel Messi was unhappy with being touched and hugged during his appearance at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on December 13 and left the venue earlier than scheduled, the arrested main organiser of the event has told investigators.

According to sources in the Special Investigation Team (SIT), Satadru Dutta, who was arrested in connection with the incident, said during questioning that the Argentine football star “did not like being touched on the back or being hugged” by people on the field. Dutta told investigators that Messi’s foreign security team had conveyed this concern in advance.

Despite repeated announcements asking people to maintain distance, the situation did not improve, Dutta reportedly said. He told the SIT that the way Messi was surrounded and embraced on the ground was unacceptable to the World Cup-winning footballer, following which he chose to leave the venue without completing the full programme.

West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas was seen close to Messi throughout the event, with visuals showing him holding the footballer around the waist while posing for photographs. Biswas has been accused of using his influence to allow relatives and personal acquaintances access to Messi. Amid growing criticism, he resigned from his post as sports minister pending completion of the investigation.

Investigators are also examining how a large number of people gained access to the ground area, leading to a breakdown in crowd control. Dutta claimed that initially only 150 ground passes were issued, but the number was later tripled after a “very influential person” arrived at the stadium and overruled him. Police are probing whether this expansion of access directly contributed to the chaos.

Dutta further told investigators that once the influential person arrived, the entire plan and flow of the programme was disrupted, leaving him unable to manage the situation.

The arrested organiser also shared financial details related to Messi’s India visit. According to Dutta, Messi was paid Rs 89 crore for the tour, while Rs 11 crore was paid as tax to the Indian government, taking the total expenditure to Rs 100 crore. Sources said around 30 per cent of the amount came from sponsors, while another 30 per cent was generated through ticket sales.

The SIT has frozen Dutta’s bank accounts, in which more than Rs 20 crore was found. During raids at his residence on Friday, investigators seized several documents. Dutta claimed that the money in his accounts was earned from ticket sales for the Messi events in Kolkata and Hyderabad, as well as sponsorships. Police said these claims are being verified.

Thousands of spectators had purchased high-priced tickets for the event, but the programme descended into chaos as a large number of people crowded around Messi on the field. The footballer became barely visible from the galleries, triggering anger among fans. Some spectators later vandalised parts of the stadium.

The West Bengal government has constituted a Special Investigation Team comprising senior IPS officers Piyush Pandey, Javed Shamim, Supratim Sarkar and Muralidhar to probe the vandalism, security lapses, access violations and the role of organisers and officials in the incident.