The recent visit of football great Lionel Messi to India made a lot of headlines. This tour took place in the name of ‘GOAT India Tour 2025’, which included Kolkata, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi. Although there was chaos during the event in Kolkata, now the organizer has revealed how much Messi was paid for this tour.
Organizer’s disclosure
Chief organizer Satadru Dutta, who was arrested after the Kolkata event, told the Special Investigation Team (SIT) during interrogation that Messi was given Rs 89 crore for the entire tour. In addition, Rs 11 crore was paid as tax to the Indian government.
In this way the total expenditure reached Rs 100 crore. According to Dutta, 30 percent of this amount came from sponsors and the same amount from ticket sales. The remaining source is a matter of investigation.
There was a disturbance in the Kolkata program.
Messi’s concert at the Salt Lake Stadium on December 13 lasted only 20 minutes. Dutta said that Messi did not like being touched on the back or hugged, and his security team had already told this. But the crowd went out of control, angering thousands of fans.
Many people threw chairs and vandalized the stadium. Investigation revealed that initially only 150 ground passes were issued, but with the arrival of an influential person this number tripled, which worsened the situation.
Case investigation and action
The West Bengal government has constituted a SIT to investigate this incident. More than Rs 20 crore have been recovered from Dutta’s bank accounts, which have been frozen. Police are investigating the claims of ticket sales and sponsorship.
Sports Minister Arup Biswas also resigned after he was accused of giving special access to relatives. The tour was financially beneficial for Messi, but the shortcomings of the event disappointed Indian fans.
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