Overview
- West Bengal’s new sports minister, Nisith Pramanik, has asked for the case file and signaled a possible probe into the Salt Lake Stadium episode, criticizing the VIP culture under the previous regime.
- Messi’s Kolkata appearance in December 2025 ended after roughly 20–25 minutes, and parts of the stadium were vandalised when angry fans realized the program had been cut short.
- Organiser Satadru Dutta alleges hundreds without clearance flooded the field, including then sports minister Aroop Biswas, which he says led Messi’s team to stop the program for safety.
- Dutta claims Biswas pressed for extra access passes and touched Messi during photos, and he says a shove on Rodrigo De Paul convinced the entourage they could not continue.
- Dutta says he followed Z-plus security protocols, was jailed for 38 days, and is pursuing defamation and Supreme Court action as investigations continue; he notes the same format ran smoothly in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.