Kolkata: The organiser of football great Lionel Messi’s GOAT Tour to Kolkata, Satadru Dutta, has apparently told members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) – set up to probe the unfortunate happenings at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata – that a “very influential person” increased the number of ground passes by three times, following which things got out of hand.
He has also been reported as saying that the Argentine legend left the stadium within minutes of his appearance on December 13 –resulting in chaos — as he was “unhappy with being touched or hugged.” This was reported by news agency PTI.
Dutta, who is now in judicial custody, is also said to have claimed that after the “influential person” entered the stadium, the entire flowchart of the event got disturbed and he was unable to control it.
The organiser also said that Messi “did not like being touched on the back or being hugged” and that the concern had been conveyed in advance by the foreign security officials responsible for the footballer’s protection, as reported by The New Indian Express.
“Despite repeated public announcements to restrain the crowd, there was no impact. The manner in which Messi was surrounded and embraced was completely unacceptable to the World Cup-winning footballer,” Dutta told the investigators, sources told Hindustan Times.
Initially, only 150 ground passes were issued, which, however, was tripled when a “very influential person” reached the stadium and “overpowered him.”
The SIT is now examining whether the expanded access directly contributed to the breakdown of crowd control. They are also probing how such a large number of people gained access to the ground area.
West Bengal sports minister Aroop Biswas was seen in close proximity to Messi throughout the programme, with visuals showing him holding the footballer around the waist while posing for photographs.
Dutta also disclosed financial details related to Messi’s India visit.
“Lionel Messi was paid Rs 89 crore for the tour, while Rs 11 crore was paid as tax to the Indian government,” he told investigators, placing the total expenditure at Rs 100 crore.
Of this amount, 30 per cent was sourced from sponsors, while another 30 per cent was generated through ticket sales, sources said.
Meanwhile, an amount of over Rs 20 crore was found in the frozen bank accounts of Dutta by the SIT, an official has been quoted as saying.
“Dutta claimed that the amount in his bank account was the money which he got from selling the tickets for the Messi event in Kolkata and Hyderabad and also from the sponsors. We are verifying his claims,” the official said.
Thousands of spectators had purchased high-priced tickets to attend the event at Salt Lake Stadium, but the programme descended into chaos as a large number of people crowded around Messi on the field, making him barely visible from the galleries. This triggered anger among fans, some of whom later vandalised parts of the stadium.
