The chief organiser of Argentine footballer Lionel Messi’s India tour, Satadru Dutta, was on Sunday denied bail and sent to 14-days police custody, a day after fans vandalised the venue in West Bengal’s Kolkata over poor management, The Indian Express reported.
Messi is in the country until Monday for the three-day GOAT (Greatest of All Time) India Tour 2025. After completing the Kolkata and Hyderabad legs of the tour, he is now in Mumbai and is due to visit Delhi on Monday.
He is also joined by his Inter Miami teammate Luis Suárez and Argentine footballer Rodrigo De Paul.
At Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday, thousands of spectators from several parts of the country had arrived to catch a glimpse of Messi. The footballer’s convoy entered the stadium at 11.30 am.
However, as the footballers entered the stadium, a crowd of 70 to 80 persons, including the organisers of the event, state Sports Minister Aroop Biswas and representatives of football clubs, surrounded them.
The spectators on the stands were unable to see Messi, Suarez and Paul as the group surrounding the footballers tried to take selfies and autographs from them. The fans started shouting: “We want Messi”.
However, Messi was taken out of the stadium at about 11.52 am, before Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and actor Shahrukh Khan arrived to greet him.
Subsequently, chaos ensued as angry spectators started breaking chairs in the stands and throwing them on the field. Bottles were also thrown. The spectators broke the gate along the edge of the field and entered in large numbers.
Temporary structures were overturned and some were even set on fire, prompting the police to resort to lathi-charge to control the crowd. Personnel from the Rapid Action Force were also deployed inside the stadium.
Following the incident, Dutta was arrested by Kolkata Police, for the alleged mismanagement.
He was produced before the Bidhannagar Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate on Sunday, where his lawyer sought bail, arguing that he had been framed, NDTV reported.
The court rejected the bail application and remanded Dutta to 14-day police custody.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose visited the stadium on Sunday, a day after he claimed that was “denied” entry to the venue following the chaos, PTI reported.
Bose said he was denied entry on Saturday, finding the gates closed and the lights switched off, and alleged the move was intended to block his visit.
He had earlier described the incident as a “dark day for the sports-loving people of Kolkata”.
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