The chaotic fallout from Lionel Messi’s brief and controversial visit to Kolkata has escalated into a major legal and administrative storm, with former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly issuing a ₹50 crore defamation notice against a football fan club official for allegedly dragging his name into the controversy without basis.

Messi’s much-hyped appearance at the Salt Lake Stadium lasted just 22 minutes, far short of expectations for the nearly 50,000 spectators who had packed the venue. Tickets reportedly ranged from ₹4,000 to ₹12,000, with some fans paying up to ₹20,000 on the black market. Despite Messi arriving to loud cheers alongside Luis Suárez and Rodrigo De Paul, the situation quickly spiralled out of control as politicians, VIPs, police personnel, and aides surrounded the football icon, preventing meaningful fan interaction.

Repeated appeals from organisers, including emotional pleas by promoter Satadru Dutta over the public address system, failed to restore order. Following Messi’s abrupt exit, anger spilled over into vandalism, with spectators throwing bottles, damaging canopies, ripping out seats, and causing extensive damage inside the stadium. The chaos reportedly continued for nearly 90 minutes.

Amid the backlash, Uttam Saha of the ‘Argentina Football Fan Club’ publicly alleged that Ganguly was the real force behind Messi’s India tour, claiming that arrested organiser Satadru Dutta was merely a front. Strongly denying these accusations, Ganguly lodged a police complaint with the Kolkata Police Cyber Cell and served Saha a ₹50 crore legal notice, calling the claims “baseless, defamatory, and damaging” to his reputation built over decades as a sportsperson and administrator.

The controversy has also triggered serious administrative consequences. The West Bengal government issued show-cause notices to senior police officials, including the DGP and the Bidhannagar Police Commissioner, and suspended a deputy commissioner for alleged negligence. Departmental action has also been initiated against officials from the Youth Affairs and Sports Department and the Salt Lake Stadium administration.

Originally scheduled to felicitate Messi alongside Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Ganguly’s programme was cancelled in the aftermath of the unrest. What began as a celebratory football event has now become a cautionary tale of mismanagement, reputational damage, and governance lapses—underscoring how high-profile sports spectacles can unravel when crowd control and accountability fail.