Sports promoter Satadru Dutta, who organised Lionel Messi's India tour, has expressed regret over hosting the event in Kolkata following the controversy at Salt Lake Stadium during the Argentine star's visit. The event faced criticism after Messi left the stadium within 25 minutes amid crowd-control issues and security concerns. Dutta stated he never anticipated such an outcome.
“Absolutely, I regret it. I could have sold this event elsewhere and made more money. But as a Bengali from Kolkata, I wanted football fans here to experience it. I never imagined that one immature person trying to create his own mileage would destroy the entire event,” Dutta said in an interview with Hindustan Times.
Dutta was later arrested by police and spent 38 days in custody. He has now accused the Mamata Banerjee-led All India Trinamool Congress government of political interference and blackmail, claiming the event was sabotaged. He also raised concerns over the security situation during Messi's appearance.
“Messi had close to a billion dollars in insurance coverage. Imagine if something had happened to him on the ground, it would have become a national embarrassment. That's why Messi's team decided they could not continue because he doesn't like claustrophobic situations where people crowd around him,” he said, as quoted by HT.
Dutta claimed all required approvals and security protocols had been completed from his side before the event. “This event was a Z and Z-plus category event, and the Home Ministry provided the instructions for that security cover to the Bengal government. Interestingly, even after that, the Chief Minister herself was the chief guest, and she also had Z-plus security. As an event organiser, I completed every approval related to protection, licensing and permissions. We had at least 15 to 20 meetings with police officials. So from my side, all SOPs and protocols were followed. But I was never a law enforcer. I was only the organiser. If you see, this Z and Z-plus security can only be enforced by the administration and police department. So when I entered the ground with Messi, I immediately noticed many people inside who were not supposed to be there.”
Dutta further alleged that several unauthorised individuals entered the ground and surrounded Messi. “When I entered, I saw at least 100 to 120 unsolicited people who were not part of the show flow and didn’t even have access cards. They started surrounding Messi and taking photos. The first thing I told the CP of Bidhannagar was, ‘Sir, how are these people here? They were not given access.’ Then the sports minister entered the ground despite not being part of the show flow. The first thing he did was touch Messi’s shoulder and waist while taking photos, which was very inappropriate. Messi’s manager immediately came to me and said, ‘This guy was not part of the show flow. Why is he here? Why are so many people here?’”
He said the responsibility for maintaining security rested with the administration and police. “The police and administration are responsible for that. If there was a flaw in my management, how did Hyderabad, Mumbai, and Delhi run smoothly with the same team? In those cities, the governments and police followed the accreditation system, and the show flowed properly.”
Dutta said he repeatedly asked officials to clear the ground but no action was taken. “I've been organising stadium events for the last 15 years, and this has never happened before. Usually, taking two or three extra pictures is normal. But here somebody turned it into a private event, calling bureaucrats, family members and others for pictures. The DG and the CP were standing there, and nobody stopped them. I kept shouting and requesting them to clear the ground, but nobody listened. There were at least a thousand police personnel inside the stadium,” he added.
