Kolkata, May 11 Nearly six months after Lionel Messi’s controversial Kolkata appearance spiralled into chaos, organiser Satadru Dutta has admitted he regrets bringing the Argentine football icon to the city, while insisting that his intentions were rooted in emotion and football culture.
Dutta reflected on the fallout from the event, which led to massive controversy, allegations of security lapses, and his eventual arrest.
“It's not a couple of months. It's now close to six months. See, in my wildest dream, I never thought this because you know Messi, Lionel Messi coming for his first private tour starting from Calcutta, Mecca football, and then you know things happen like this. I never dreamt it,” Dutta told IANS.
The organiser said his attachment to Kolkata played a key role in bringing Messi to the city despite the logistical and financial challenges involved in securing the football superstar for a private appearance.
“If you ask me honestly, I do regret bringing Messi to Calcutta, but I had an emotional connection with this place, being a son of the soil. I thought the fans should see Messi, and Calcutta should celebrate Lionel Messi football. He's, you know, he being a world champion, but then as I told you, I never thought that things would turn around to this,” he added.
Dutta claimed the event represented years of effort and persuasion to convince Messi to undertake what he described as the footballer’s first private tour. “It was a three-year effort, you know, three years of effort I have given to bring Messi. And it was very tough to convince him. It was his first private event, don't forget that,” he said.
The event, billed as one of the biggest football spectacles in the city in recent years, ended amid crowd unrest and allegations of organisational failure, with Dutta later spending time in custody as investigations into the incident began.
Despite the controversy, Dutta maintained that ordinary football fans were not responsible for the event's collapse. “And if I just get support from the government, just saying that, okay, the security will be good, I will go for Messi. Why not? Because see, the fans have not done anything wrong, right?” he said.
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