Hours after Argentine football icon Lionel Messi’s much-anticipated visit to Kolkata turned into a “messy” event, organizer Satadru Dutta reportedly tried to leave the city for Hyderabad, where Messi had a scheduled program, but was stopped by officials. The organizer was reportedly deplaned moments before take-off from the Kolkata airport and arrested.
Satadru Dutta – the main organizer of the GOAT India Tour 2025 – who has widely promoted the event as the “Satadru Dutta Initiative” – found himself in the limelight on Saturday after chaos erupted at Kolkata’s Salt Lake Stadium. The supporters who turned up in large numbers barely caught a glimpse of Messi, leading to angry fans vandalizing the stadium.
Dutta asked to drop off, assured of refund – What happened at the airport?
Satadru Dutta reportedly made it to the plane, but it was only a matter of minutes before Director General of Police Rajeev Kumar arrived at the Kolkata airport and ordered that Dutta be stopped from flying out of the city, officials said.
According to a TOI report, Satadru Dutta arrived at the airport around 12.25 pm, completed security checks and boarded the flight at around 12.40 pm.
Police officials arrived at the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport on Sunday, where Satadru Dutta escorted Messi and his Inter Miami teammates ahead of the next leg of the footballer’s India tour.
Dutta was asked to get off the plane around 1pm and was kept in a vehicle on the tarmac while police decided on the next course of action.
During this time, he allegedly tried to negotiate with the officers – initially denying responsibility for the Salt Lake Stadium fiasco and later offering to post a personal bond guaranteeing the refund of nearly 60,000 spectators, a TOI report said citing witnesses.
The Salt Lake Stadium fiasco
What was billed as a landmark celebration of world football quickly turned into scenes of confusion and anger at the Salt Lake Stadium – Kolkata – after angry fans threw water bottles, chairs at officials as they missed the sight of their beloved footballer Lionel Messi.
FROM ₹4000 on amounts up to ₹32,000 – The riots were fueled by frustration among fans who had paid huge sums to catch a glimpse of Messi in the “Mecca of Indian football” in Kolkata.
Their anger was directed at a group of nearly 100 people who surrounded Messi upon his arrival at the Salt Lake Stadium. The group included West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas, Mohun Bagan president Debasish Dutta, general secretary Srinjoy Bose and members of Messi’s entourage, including Luis Suárez and Rodrigo De Paulo.
A court in Bidhannagar on Sunday remanded Satadra Dutta to police custody for 14 days as authorities probe the large-scale disturbance that broke out during the Argentinian superstar’s GOAT India Tour 2025 stop in the city.
