Sports promoter Satadru Dutta, who organised Lionel Messi’s GOAT Tour to India last year, broke his silence on Monday surrounding the mismanagement that took place during the event at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
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 ensued at the venue on December 13. Then West Bengal sports minister Aroop Biswas, who was accompanying Messi, was accused of allowing unregistered entries into the stadium, leaving thousands of fans, who had bought highly-priced tickets for the event, miffed.
They eventually resorted to damaging the property, which curtailed the highly anticipated event, originally slated 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.
Following the recent West Bengal assembly elections, where Biswas lost 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 have lost in the elections, don’t think that you have been punished. I will lodge a defamation case, and if needed, will go to the Supreme Court. I will fight till the end,” he posted on Facebook stories.
“Repeatedly, I told him not to click pictures here. But, he, using his power, went on to click photos. He will have to pay for this. He (Biswas) is having a laugh while his own people infiltrate. No one heard my cry of anguish. Police also stood still,” he added.
Satadru also announced that he would soon hold a press conference where he would reveal everything.
“Press conference is coming soon. Everything will be exposed. You sabotaged my event. You victimised me. You made my three years of effort and perseverance go in vain. You made all the fans disappointed. 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 cards. When they refused, ground access card was denied. You locked them in room arrest. Intimidation. Control. Your stooges didn’t just interfere…they blackmailed my event. They sabotaged everything.”
Published on May 06, 2026