Messi tour chaos: Organiser Satadru Dutta breaks silence, blames Ex-TMC minister

Arrested for the mismanagement of the Kolkata event of the Lionel Messi G.O.A.T. India Tour 2025, event organiser Satadru Dutta speaks out against the former Trinamool Congress (TMC) administration. Dutta attacks former sports minister Aroop Biswas, against whom he is filing a Rs 100 crore defamation case, along with others who were on the ground on that fateful day. Angry fans who did not get a glimpse of Messi after he left suddenly ransacked Salt Lake Stadium in the presence of thousands of police personnel.

Dutta's life changed, his reputation suffered, and his family was affected. With the new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in West Bengal, the event organizer says he has faith in the administration and is confident of an impartial investigation into the Messi mess. Excerpts from the interview:

Q: What are your views on the failure of the event?

A: It was basically a complete failure of the police and an immature act of the sports minister. Whatever the accreditation part, whatever the show flow, which I shared with them, they only approved it and it came from Messi's team. They failed to implement that. I'll tell you why, because the event was a Z and Z-plus category event.

The Z-category was approved by the central government, home ministry, and it was directed to the state government. In this sort of high-profile event, when the Chief Minister comes, it becomes a Z-plus event. Then how come people who didn't have the accreditation card intruded onto the ground?

The most important point is that the sports minister himself was not part of the show flow. If you see in three other states, no other ministers, leaving the Chief Minister and a few other approved bureaucrats, were there on the ground. But he was not part of the show flow. He came inside. First thing he did was take photos with Messi, touching his waist, touching his shoulder, then calling his bureaucrat friends to take photos, calling his family friends to take photos, and then hijacked the event the moment I got in with Messi.

The most important part is not only his fault. It was a failure of police. Because when I entered, I saw there were many unacquainted, unsolicited people inside the ground, because nobody was allowed inside the field of play. It was the close proximity cards that were being issued, which were being shared with the police. It had only 8 to 10 people — Shah Rukh Khan, Sourav Ganguly, Mamata Banerjee, Rodrigo De Paul, Suarez, Messi, me, a few of my PR guys, and Messi's personal photographer and manager. That was the close proximity list.

The footballers who were playing the match were supposed to take a joint photo with their officials. Then the flag bearers, and then the kids were supposed to do a tiki-taka with Messi. Only they were allowed. But how others got in, that investigation should happen, right? Because our police can't investigate themselves. The funny part is that the special investigation team that was formed had the CP of Bidhannagar as part of the team. Then you tell me, if that very CP was show-caused by the government, how come he is part of a special investigation team doing the investigation?

Ironically, only my teammates and I were called for the investigation and nobody else was called. Nobody else who was there on the ground was called. So it was a complete farce. Any impartial investigation will throw complete light on what really happened there. It was a complete mess of the police system, as well as an immature act of the sports minister.

Q: What about Sujit Bose, who was also handing out tickets?

A: I can't comment because the December 13 event was the stadium event. He was not part of the stadium event. Only the statue was inaugurated, which was done from the hotel. Because I had committed to Messi's father, which he liked, and that was limited to just the unveiling of the statue.

I don't know what he has done with the tickets. I had so much going on with the event, I don't know when he distributed these tickets, because my communication with him was basically that he said he would make a statue and I said I'll request Messi to inaugurate it. That's it.

Q: What about tickets? Many people say they have not got their money back. They held you responsible and the police said that the event organiser has to refund.

A: No, I can't comment on that. I am not responsible for any failure of the event. It was a police failure. So it is sub judice, and I can't comment on that.

I am filing a Rs 100 crore defamation case. Not only a defamation case, but a damages case against every individual, be it the sports minister or others who intruded onto the ground.

Q: But the defamation is against Trinamool Congress or against Aroop Biswas? Who is it particularly against?

A: It is particularly against Aroop Biswas. The damages case is also against Aroop Biswas. Many individuals who intruded onto the ground were his close people. I'm filing a case on this. I'm just waiting for the High Court to open. Because in the current scenario, there are no opposition government lawyers at this moment. I will go to the court and file a defamation case. I am filing a damages case and a defamation case.

Q: I was part of the earlier Messi event. There was an exhibition match at Salt Lake Stadium. I covered that and saw how the event was. Do you feel cheated? You have brought him before. Now you got him here and you were arrested while getting onto the chartered flight.

A: I have been doing this for the last 15 years with a blemish-free record. I got Maradona, Pele, Ronaldinho, Martinez, and 17 footballers to Bengal. Nowhere has any sort of incident happened like this. This time it happened because the immature sports minister thought Messi is a local footballer.

Just because the sports minister had political clout, the police surrendered. Because, how can they allow persons who do not have accreditation cards or agency cards? Who is the law enforcer? It is the police. There were thousands of police inside the ground, but nobody took any action.

The Chief Minister who has Z-plus category security was supposed to arrive within five minutes. So when she would arrive, would the police allow 150 people coming into close proximity? It is a complete failure of the police and an immature act of the sports minister. He hijacked my event.

Q: With the Trinamool Congress out of power, do you feel a sense of relief?

A: I have organised the same Messi event in Mumbai and Delhi. I have communicated with the Chief Minister and the police. I am comfortable doing events with the government. I think the BJP is a very regimented party and the new government in West Bengal will make sure that the police do their job. A line has to be drawn between politics, security, and police. Security is paramount. In this case, it was completely different.

Q: Personally, how do you feel? Was it harassment for you, your family, and everyone?

A: I regret bringing Messi to Kolkata. I did it because of the emotional connection to the fans in Kolkata, the city I was born in, I thought, let's celebrate. It is about Messi.

Of course, there is a business angle. Messi will not come for free and I am paying all the taxes. Because of my decision to bring Messi, my family suffered, and my reputation took a hit.

People ask me why I didn’t speak at that time. First of all, on that event day, I was arrested. They put a mask on me like a criminal. Even when I was in police custody, they said that if I opened my mouth, my family would suffer. Who will take that risk?

This narrative of why I am opening my mouth now — you tell me one thing. Do I have the power to take on the ex-government, which had complete control of the police? Do I have the power to take on the police when the police were controlled by the ex-government? They knew they were involved. Anything I could have said would have made my life hell.

Q: Is your family suffering the backlash of this? 

A: Absolutely. They were pushing a wrong narrative that it was my mismanagement. How can anybody manage an event where outsiders come in and a powerful minister takes over the event? The CP knew everything, but apart from arresting me, they did nothing.

Q: But now the case is still against you, so you are still not breathing as freely as you would want to.

A: It is in the court and I have complete faith in the Indian judiciary. I will fight it out and let the new government do an impartial investigation. If I am at fault, I will again go to jail. If somebody else is at fault, be it the sports minister or senior police officials, they should be taken to task.