West Bengal sports minister resigns after chaotic Lionel Messi event; fan outrage leads to major probe

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accepted the resignation of Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Aroop Biswas, after the Lionel Messi debacle on Saturday, resulting in angry football fans ransacking the government-run Salt Lake Stadium. Banerjee will take additional charge of the sports and youth affairs department. Biswas and his family members were in the line of fire for hogging the limelight at the stadium along with other VIPs, which blocked the view of thousands of spectators at the galleries.

In addition to this, the top police brass also faced the consequences of things spiralling out of control at the stadium. West Bengal Director General of Police (DGP), Rajeev Kumar, and Biddhanagar Police Commissioner, Mukesh Kumar, have been served show-cause notices and have been asked to clarify within 24 hours, the mismanagement and lapses within the stadium during the Kolkata leg of the GOAT Tour India 2025.

Deputy Commissioner of Police of Biddhanagar Commissionerate, Aneesh Sarkar, has been placed under suspension, and departmental proceedings have been initiated against him. These decisions were taken by the state's chief secretary.

In addition to this, Principal Secretary for Sports and Youth Department, Rajesh Kumar Sinha, has also been issued a show-cause notice. CEO of Salt Lake Stadium, Dev Kumar Nandan, has been removed from his post. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to further probe into the chaos.

Senior police officers Peeyush Pandey, Jawed Shamim, Supratim Sarkar and Murlidhar are part of the SIT. An enquiry committee was formed by Mamata on Saturday, led by retired Justice Ashim Kumar Ray, to conduct a detailed enquiry into the incident and fix responsibility. The committee visited the stadium on Sunday and is looking into all aspects of the incident.  The preliminary report has already been submitted by the committee.