Kolkata: Investigators probing the chaotic ransacking of Salt Lake stadium by an enraged mob following Lionel Messi’s abrupt departure may find key answers in the flight plan of the private Gulfstream jet that carried the soccer star and his entourage to Kolkata and then onward to Hyderabad.
According to ATC sources at Kolkata airport, the original flight plan listed a takeoff time of 2:15 pm on Saturday, just about 15 minutes after Messi was expected to arrive at the airport from the stadium.
However, Messi, along with Inter Miami teammates Luis Suárez and Rodrigo De Paul, and tour organizer Satadru Dutta, reached the airport much earlier at 12:25 pm—nearly 1 hour and 35 minutes ahead of schedule. They boarded the plane around 12:40 pm and remained on board, waiting for the scheduled departure.
The aircraft eventually took off at 2:34 pm, delayed by 19 minutes from the planned time.
In the interim, police intervened, forcing Dutta to disembark. Despite his claims of innocence and an offer to refund disappointed fans to continue the GOAT India Tour with Messi, authorities rejected his pleas, detaining and later arresting him.
“Messi and the others were stuck waiting on the aircraft on the tarmac until at least 2:15 pm, as per the flight schedule. The delay stemmed from Dutta’s situation, and the pilot couldn’t hold any longer, leading to the 2:34 pm departure,” explained an airport official.
This nearly two-hour wait on the tarmac highlights a critical question for the investigation: What caused Messi and his group to bolt from Salt Lake stadium a full 90 minutes earlier than planned? Messi was slated to meet Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan inside the stadium, and even West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was en route to greet him when she learned of his sudden exit amid the ensuing pandemonium.
“If Messi had stayed those extra 90 minutes at the stadium and engaged in activities like passing a football with his Inter Miami teammates, fans would have had plenty of time to see him, potentially averting the chaos and public outrage,” noted a police officer involved in the probe.