Argentine football legend Lionel Messi was “unhappy with being touched or hugged” during his appearance at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata, Satadru Dutta, the arrested main organiser of Messi’s event, said. He also revealed that Messi was paid Rs 89 crore for his ‘G.O.A.T India Tour 2025’.

Also read: Messi event chaos: West Bengal sports minister Aroop Biswas resigns

Chaos erupted during Messi’s event on December 13 in Kolkata and the World Cup winner left before staying there full-time as scheduled.

The event lasted only 22 minutes after angry fans threw bottles and chairs onto the ground as they failed to catch a glimpse of their star player.

What Dutta told SIT

During prolonged questioning by officers of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), Dutta said Messi “did not like being touched on the back or being hugged” and that the concern had been conveyed in advance by the foreign security officials responsible for the footballer’s protection, a PTI report said on Saturday (December 20) citing a source.

“Despite repeated public announcements to restrain the crowd, there was no impact.

The manner in which Messi was surrounded and embraced was completely unacceptable to the World Cup-winning footballer,” Dutta told investigators during his grilling on Friday, the source said.

Also read: Chaos at Messi’s event in Kolkata; organiser detained, CM orders probe

West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas was seen in close proximity to Messi throughout the programme, with visuals showing him holding the footballer around the waist while posing for photographs.

Biswas has been accused of using his influence to allow relatives and personal acquaintances access to Messi.

Amid mounting criticism, he resigned from his post as sports minister pending completion of the investigation.

‘150 ground passes issued’

Investigators are also probing how such a large number of people gained access to the ground area.

Dutta also claimed that initially only 150 ground passes were issued, which, however, was tripled when a “very influential person” reached the stadium and “overpowered him”. Police are examining whether the expanded access directly contributed to the breakdown of crowd control.

“The arrested accused also claimed that once that particular influential person reached the stadium, all the flow-chart for the Messi programme got disturbed and he could not control it,” the official told the news agency.

Messi tour cost Rs 100 crore

Dutta also disclosed financial details to Messi’s India visit.

“Lionel Messi was paid Rs 89 crore for the tour, while Rs 11 crore was paid as tax to the Indian government,” he told investigators, placing the total expenditure at Rs 100 crore. Of this amount, 30 per cent was sourced from sponsors, while another 30 per cent was generated through ticket sales, sources said.

The West Bengal government had set up the Special Investigation Team (SIT) comprising senior IPS officers Piyush Pandey, Javed Shamim, Supratim Sarkar and Muralidhar to investigate the vandalism at Messi’s event. The SIT is also investigating security lapses, access violations, and the role of organisers and officials in the incident, the officer added.