No relief for Satadru Dutta: Organiser of Messi Kolkata event denied bail, sent to 14-day police custody
Times of India | 14 December 2025
KOLKATA: The Bidhannagar court on Sunday sent the promoter and organiser of football icon Lionel Messi's G.O.A.T India Tour 2025, Satadru Dutta, to 14 days of police custody.
Kolkata police arrested event organiser Dutta on Saturday, hours after a planned appearance by footballer Lionel Messi at the city’s Salt Lake Stadium descended into chaos.
Dutta was arrested at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport as he prepared to leave Kolkata with Messi and members of Inter Miami, who were travelling onwards as part of the GOAT India Tour 2025.
Police said they had received instructions not to allow the organiser to leave the city.
According to officials, Dutta reached the airport shortly after midday, cleared security checks and boarded the aircraft. He was later asked to disembark after the director general of police, Rajeev Kumar, intervened.
Witnesses said Dutta was kept inside a police vehicle on the airport tarmac while officers decided on further action.
During this time, he denied responsibility for the disruption at the stadium and offered assurances that spectators would be refunded, police said.
The aircraft later departed for Hyderabad with seven passengers instead of eight, after the pilot declined to delay the flight further, air traffic control officials said.
At a briefing later in the day, the additional director general of police (law and order), Jawed Shamim, said an investigation was under way.
The Salt Lake Stadium event, promoted as “A Satadru Dutta Initiative”, was cut short shortly after Messi entered the venue.
Officials, organisers and spectators gathered around the footballer on the ground, obstructing the view of those seated in the stands.
Thousands of fans, many of whom had paid between 5,000 and 16,000 rupees for tickets, were left disappointed after Messi left the stadium early. Objects were later thrown inside the venue as tensions rose.
Messi and his teammates later left Kolkata, while the event organiser remained in police custody as inquiries continued.