Sports promoter Satadru Dutta, who organized Lionel Messi’s GOAT Tour to India last year, on Monday broke his silence on the mismanagement that took place during the event at Salt Lake Stadium in Calcutta.
Messi, accompanied by former Barcelona teammate Luiz Suarez and former Atletico Madrid star Rodrigo de Paul, left the stadium within 25 minutes after chaotic scenes unfolded on December 13. The then West Bengal sports minister Aroop Biswas, who accompanied Messi, was accused of allowing unregistered entry into the stadium, leaving thousands of fans, who had bought expensive tickets for the event, miffed.
Ultimately, they resorted to damaging the property, curtailing the highly anticipated event, which was originally supposed to be an hour-long affair.
A few hours after the fiasco, Satadru was arrested at the Kolkata airport and spent 38 days in custody. He was later released on January 19.
After the recent assembly elections in West Bengal, which saw Biswas lose his Tollygunge seat as the ruling All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) was ousted from power, Satadru has finally decided to open up about the event.
«Just because you lost in the election, don’t think you have been punished. I will file a defamation case and, if necessary, go to the Supreme Court. I will fight to the end,» he wrote Facebook stories.
«I repeatedly told him not to click pictures here. But he used his power and continued clicking pictures. He will have to pay for this. He (Biswas) is laughing while his own people are infiltrating. No one heard my cry of fear. The police were also standing still,» he added.
Satadru also announced that he would soon hold a press conference where he would reveal everything.
«The press conference is coming. Everything will be exposed. You sabotaged my event. You made me a victim. You made my three years of effort and perseverance in vain. You disappointed all the fans. You put me in jail for 38 days. Now it’s my turn. They thought silence could bury the truth… forced my team to issue ground access tickets. When they refused, the ground access card was denied. You locked them up in room detention. Intimidation. Control. Your accomplices didn’t just interfere…they blackmailed my event.”
Published on May 6, 2026
