Lionel Messi left the Salt Lake Stadium after he was upset that a section of those surrounding him on the field started touching him on December 13, violating the protocol his private security guards had drawn up, Satadru Dutta told the Special Investigation Team (SIT), sources said.
Dutta, the organiser of the event now in police custody, told the SIT that Messi’s personal security team had told him that, according to protocol, no one was allowed to touch or hug the footballer at any venue.
However, last Saturday, several people around Messi at the stadium tried to touch and hug him before taking pictures, Dutta told the SIT.
After Messi’s security team conveyed the footballer’s discomfort to Dutta while on the ground, he had appealed to those around the footballer to leave him alone using a cordless microphone, but it didn’t work, sources said.
“Dutta claimed that he made multiple appeals to those around Messi using a microphone to leave the footballer alone and not touch him, but no one cared,” said a police officer.
“Upset, Messi left within 20 minutes of his arrival, even though it was meant to be an hour-and-a-half-long event,” said the officer.
Frustrated supporters began pelting plastic water bottles, followed by chairs from the galleries after Messi left.
Angry at not being able to catch a glimpse of the star despite having paid a ransom for a ticket, several thousand broke open locked gates leading to the turf and invaded the ground before ransacking the venue. Nine have been arrested in connection with the violence so far.
Almost everyone said that Messi was not visible because of a group of people who surrounded him on the field.
Dutta told investigators that he had initially made arrangements for around 150 ‘close-proximity’ passes for those who would be on the field with Messi when he entered the Salt Lake Stadium.
The number of such passes had to be increased manifold due to pressure from influential personalities, Dutta told the investigators. As a result, a huge crowd surrounded the Argentinian footballer at the Salt Lake Stadium, making it difficult for thousands who bought tickets to watch him, Dutta added.
“Dutta said that as a result of this mess, the flow chart that was drawn up for the event went for a toss. We will verify what he has claimed,” an officer said.
The SIT, in its preliminary investigation, has found that when the organisers realised that too many people had entered the ground, it was planned that once the ground was emptied, Messi would be brought out again.
However, when the organisers were about to make an announcement, the two anchors found that the optic wire of their microphones was damaged.
In the absence of any announcements, people thought Messi had left and pelting of water bottles started.