A big controversy has arisen regarding Lionel Messi’s program organized at the Brabourne Stadium of Cricket Club of India (CCI), Mumbai. The club management is now preparing to send a legal notice to Satadru Dutta, the organizer of ‘GOAT India Tour 2025’. CCI alleges that there was serious mismanagement during the program and the conditions stipulated in the MoU were not followed.
According to club sources, due to the chaos, Argentine football legend Lionel Messi had to end his tour more than an hour before the scheduled time. As per the schedule, Messi was to meet the Executive Committee of CCI, but the circumstances became such that the program was completely cancelled.
200 children were present in the stadium since morning
The biggest resentment is about children. About 200 children were present in the stadium since morning and waited for hours in the hot sun, but they did not get a chance to get photographed with Messi. Many members of the club told that the children cried on the spot and returned very dejected. There was a strong reaction within the club regarding this matter and a demand was raised to return the ticket money.
A member said that Rs 2,500 was taken for the children’s pass. The children reached the club at around 8.30 am on December 14 and waited the whole day, but in the end they were disappointed.
Club’s executive committee issued an apology
To handle the situation, the CCI Executive Committee issued a three-page apology to the members. It was clearly stated that under the MoU, football stars Luis Suarez and Rodrigo De Paul were scheduled to visit the club along with Messi. In return, 2000 passes were to be given to CCI and Messi and other players were to have a meeting with the members and children, a photo session and a meeting with the executive committee.
It has been said in the letter that the club had completed all the preparations from its end, but the organizers were unable to fulfill the prescribed responsibilities.
Totally failed. During the event, it also came to light that there was no clear arrangement regarding who should go where, who was allowed to enter and who should go to the stage or lounge. As a result, many unauthorized people reached the restricted areas and the situation went out of control.
Program remained incomplete due to celebrities-sponsors
According to a senior CCI member, Messi spent most of his time due to the crowd of celebrities and sponsors invited by the organizer, while the program scheduled for club members and children remained incomplete. Due to this chaos, Messi had to leave the program of meeting the children and being honored by the club president.
After the incident, CCI has decided to give full refund of all the tickets of Messi event in view of the resentment of the members. Also, the club will now send a legal notice to the organizer demanding reimbursement and compensation for the expenses incurred on the event.
CCI sources said, ‘This is not only a case of mismanagement but also of breach of trust. We will implement strict rules and procedures to ensure that such a situation does not happen again in future.
