Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Police personnel on the field as angry fans vandalise the Salt Lake Stadium, alleging poor management during Argentine footballer Lionel Messi’s G.O.A.T India Tour 2025, in Kolkata.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Lionel Messi’s team has written to the Bidhannagar Police and said that the event in Kolkata last year was disrupted when former Sports Minister Aroop Biswas entered the venue along with unauthorised personnel and unaccredited cameras in restricted areas.
According to sources, the Argentine football legend has reportedly directly written to the Bidhannagar Police Commissioner and has named former Sports Minister Aroop Biswas as one of the main figures behind the chaos in the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
Satadru Dutta, the main organiser of the “G.O.A.T. India Tour”, had filed the complaint against Mr Biswas.
According to Mr. Dutta, the communication to the Bidhannagar Police was sent by a member of the team that had accompanied Messi during the December 2025 event in Kolkata. The Chief advisor and consultant of Mr. Messi’s tour in India has reportedly sent the email.
“This will definitely help with the investigation. What is better than Mr. Messi’s own team writing an email for this investigation? The truth should come out,” Mr. Dutta told The Hindu on Wednesday (June 17, 2026).
According to sources who were part of the organising team shared parts of the email which said that the former Sports Minister entered the stadium and engaged Mr. Messi in activities that were not part of the original schedule.
“This included repeated unscheduled interactions and physical contact with Mr. Messi including placing hands on his shoulder and around his waist for photographs,” the email said. The email further added that this along with the presence of many unauthorised people and 40 unaccredited photographers led to major security concerns for the football icon.
It also stated that in their opinion, Mr. Dutta (the organiser) may not have been responsible for the chaos and turn of events because they did not face any hassle or security issues in any of the other three events across India, which were also organised by Mr. Dutta.
However, The Hindu has not individually verified the contents of the email.
Summons to Aroop Biswas
Police had served at least three notices to the former Sports minister, but he failed to appear for all three.
Mr. Biswas had also moved to Calcutta High Court and the court had asked police to not take any coercive action against him
The case against Mr. Biswas alleges extortion, cheating, and misuse of political influence. The event held in December 2025 at the Salt Lake stadium ended in massive chaos and vandalism, leading to major embarrassment for the ruling government on the international stage.
Mr/ Dutta was immediately arrested by the police after the chaos unfolded and was blamed for the turn of events. Later, he received bail. Once he came out from jail, he said that he was made the scapegoat for the fiasco when M. Biswas was the person to blame.
Published – June 18, 2026 02:58 am IST
