Hours after chaos and pandemonium broke out at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Saturday as thousands of football fans, angered by Argentinian icon Lionel Messi’s extremely brief visit to the venue, broke seats, tore down banners, and hurled water bottles onto the ground, the police arrested event organiser Shatadru Dutta.
Dutta, the organiser of Messi’s three-day ‘GOAT India Tour 2025’ across Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi, was arrested after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee set up an inquiry committee to look into the “unfortunate incident” at the stadium, saying she was “deeply disturbed and shocked by the mismanagement witnessed” at the venue.
Lionel Messi India GOAT Tour Live Updates
“We are looking into where the problem arose. We have to restore peace. Traffic is normal; no injury or major incident happened. Shatadru, the main organiser, has been arrested. All those responsible will be punished,” Jawed Shamim, Additional Director General (Law and Order), said.
“There was some kind of anger or anxiety in the fans, seeing that he was not playing. The plan was that he would come here, wave, meet certain people and leave. Now the government has already constituted a committee that will look into all aspects, including whether there was any mismanagement on the organiser’s side or anything else,” West Bengal Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar said. “The organiser is giving in writing to those who are concerned that the tickets which have been sold should be refunded,” he added.
On Saturday morning, football fans had gathered at Salt Lake Stadium after paying thousands of rupees to catch a glimpse of the World Cup winner. Messi stepped onto the field amidst loud cheers from fans in the gallery. However, the mood quickly shifted as the crowd began booing and expressing anger when they failed to see Messi properly, since he was surrounded by security personnel.
The Argentinian soccer star was soon ushered out of the stadium amidst security concerns, after spending less than 20 minutes at the venue.
“We paid so much for the tickets, and we could not see Messi. Ministers and VVIPs are busy clicking selfies. Then why did we pay so much?” an angry fan was heard asking.
Fans began shouting, “We want Messi…we want Messi”, and booing the organisers. Seats in the gallery were damaged, water bottles were lobbed onto the field, and banners and posters were torn down. The police had to resort to a lathi charge to control the crowd that tried to enter the field.
Next stop, Hyderabad
Messi arrived in Kolkata at around 2.30 am on Saturday. Thousands of fans reached Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport to welcome the football legend, who arrived alongside long-time strike partner Luis Suárez and Argentina teammate Rodrigo De Paul.
At 10.30 am, Messi virtually inaugurated his 70-ft statue, which shows him holding the FIFA World Cup trophy, at Lake Town from the hotel he was staying in. West Bengal minister Sujit Bose said that Messi and his team had given their consent for the statue. “We have talked to his manager. He gave his consent for the statue, and they are also happy,” he said.
According to Bose, it took 40 days to complete the statue. “This is a very big statue, 70 feet in height. There is no other statue of Messi this big in the world,” he added.
After his Kolkata appearance, Messi is set to fly to Hyderabad. The tour continues in Mumbai on day two, before wrapping up in New Delhi on Monday.