Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], June 22 (ANI): Football fans were seen outside the Bidhannagar South Police Station holding a garland of shoes, as former West Bengal minister Aroop Biswas appeared for an inquiry on Monday related to the alleged controversy surrounding Argentine football icon Lionel Messi’s visit to Kolkata.
The football fans were seen waiting outside the gates of Bidhannagar South Police Station with garlands of shoes, which they intended to wear around Arup Biswas’s neck as soon as the former minister of state came out.
One of the people holding a garland of shoes, identified as Sanjay Paida, a football fan from Bidhannagar, alleged that Aroop Biswas had “tarnished” the image of Kolkata and West Bengal during Argentine football star Lionel Messi’s visit to the city when he was the Sports Minister. He said fans had gathered to felicitate him in a symbolic manner.
Speaking to reporters, Sanjay Paida said, “When Arup Biswas was the Sports Minister, Messi came to Kolkata. The ‘Messi on Mess’ situation that happened in Kolkata, West Bengal… they have tarnished the name of Kolkata and West Bengal not only in India but globally. Arup Biswas, who was responsible for this shameful act, is now being interrogated by the police. So, we’ve come here. That day, we went to buy tickets and went to the ground, but we couldn’t see Messi. Arup Biswas was doing everything while hovering over him. We came to see Messi, but we saw Arup instead. That wasn’t our intention when we bought tickets. We are football lovers. With the World Cup going on, we have come to felicitate the one who ‘stole’ Messi, the ‘Messi-thief’, by putting this garland of shoes on him. That is our purpose.”
International footballer Lionel Messi arrived at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on December 13, 2025, where fans gathered to watch him.
At that time, the then sports minister of the state, Arup Biswas, came very close to Messi, physically touched him and put his hand on him; many of Biswas’s friends also touched Messi in an attempt to take a selfie.
Following the incident, the event management team lodged a complaint against Arup Biswas at Bidhannagar South Police Station.
On May 31, Satadru Dutta, the main organiser of Lionel Messi’s GOAT India Tour-Kolkata Edition, has filed an FIR against former West Bengal Sports Minister, Aroop Biswas, alleging extortion, criminal intimidation, abuse of influence and the illegal diversion and sale of complimentary tickets, accreditation cards and close-proximity passes linked to the high-profile event held in Kolkata last year.
The FIR, lodged at Bidhannagar South Police Station on Saturday, seeks an investigation into Biswas and his alleged associates over their purported role in the distribution and monetisation of event access materials issued for the GOAT India Tour-Kolkata Edition featuring Argentine football legend Lionel Messi at Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan on December 13, 2025.
In his complaint, Dutta alleged that Biswas, who was the Sports Minister at the time of the event, repeatedly demanded a large number of complimentary tickets, accreditation cards and close-proximity passes and exerted pressure on the organisers.
“During the organisation of the event, Aroop Biswas, the then Sports Minister, repeatedly demanded a substantial number of complimentary tickets, accreditation cards and close-proximity passes and continuously threatened and pressured me by stating, directly and indirectly, that without his intervention, the event would not be permitted to take place smoothly and would face serious obstacles,” the FIR stated. (ANI)
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