The controversy surrounding Lionel Messi’s Kolkata visit during his GOAT India Tour 2025 continues to escalate, with former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly now at the centre of a legal and verbal showdown. Ganguly has filed a ₹50 crore defamation case against Uttam Saha, president of the Argentina Fan Club of Kolkata, after being publicly linked to the chaos that erupted at Salt Lake Stadium.
Messi’s three-day India tour brought joy to fans in Mumbai, Hyderabad and Delhi, but the opening leg in Kolkata turned ugly. Angry spectators vandalised parts of the stadium, broke seats and stormed the pitch, alleging mismanagement and claiming they were denied a proper view of the football legend despite buying expensive tickets. The situation quickly spiralled out of control, drawing criticism from political leaders and sports administrators alike.
Uttam Saha alleged that Sourav Ganguly acted as a “middleman” in bringing Messi to Kolkata and indirectly blamed him for the disorder. Ganguly, who was present at the stadium but seated away from the disturbance, left early after the unrest began. He has strongly denied any wrongdoing, calling the allegations false, malicious and damaging to his reputation.
In response to Ganguly’s complaint lodged at Lalbazar police station, Saha has refused to apologise or back down. Speaking to ANI, he said, “This is a football ground, not cricket. We respect Sourav Ganguly as a great player, but if anything wrong happens on a football field, we won’t spare anyone.”
The fallout from the incident has been significant. West Bengal Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigned, with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee temporarily taking charge of the sports portfolio. The state government also formed a Special Investigation Team comprising senior IPS officers to probe the incident thoroughly.
Despite the rocky start in Kolkata, Messi’s tour concluded smoothly elsewhere, including a visit to Jamnagar’s Vantara animal sanctuary. However, the legal battle and war of words in Kolkata suggest that the Messi controversy is far from over.
