Messi event row: Police recover luxury assets from Satadru Dutta’s residence; Rs 100 crore probe widens

Argentine footballer and 2022 FIFA World Cup winning captain Lionel Messi, front second right, with compatriot footballer Rodrigo De Paul, back center, West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas, front second left, organiser Satadru Datta, right, and others during the 'G.O.A.T. India Tour 2025' event

Kolkata Police on Friday raided the residence of Satadru Dutta, chief organiser of the controversial Lionel Messi event at Salt Lake Stadium, uncovering lavish facilities including a swimming pool, a terrace football ground and a sprawling office, The Times of India reported.

The search was conducted by a Special Investigating Team (SIT) probing alleged mismanagement and financial irregularities linked to the event that descended into chaos. Police described the operation as a “procedural search”, stating that documents and agreement papers were examined, though nothing was seized during the raid.

The inspection of Dutta’s three-storey house in Rishra marked a significant expansion of the probe, moving beyond crowd-control failures to suspected large-scale financial impropriety. Officers from the Bidhannagar Police detective department questioned the caretaker present at the house and checked each room.

Dutta was arrested on December 13, just hours after disorder broke out at the Messi event. As the chief organiser, he was held responsible for what police termed “serious lapses in planning and execution” that led to the mayhem at the stadium.

Investigators are now examining alleged financial irregularities amounting to nearly Rs 100 crore, with officials saying the probe points to illegal transactions involving office-bearers of the organising body and its associates, largely centred around Messi-related activities.

Police further claimed that attendees were allegedly charged between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 30 lakh for each photograph taken with Lionel Messi, but no official payment records were found. These amounts are suspected to have been collected in cash and are being treated as unaccounted money.

The SIT has also flagged major discrepancies in ticketing. While the Yuva Bharati Stadium has a capacity of 66,000, organisers claimed only half the tickets were sold and the rest distributed for free. Police, however, questioned this claim, saying it would have resulted in heavy losses — an unlikely scenario for a commercial sporting event of this scale.

“Opacity seems to have been deliberate in the ticketing process,” an officer was quoted as saying to TOI.

The investigation is ongoing, with police continuing to scrutinise financial records and organisational arrangements related to the high-profile event.