Kolkata (West Bengal) [India], December 19 : Former India cricket team captain Sourav Ganguly initiated legal proceedings against Uttam Saha, who is the president of the Argentina Fan Club of Kolkata, filing a defamation suit seeking Rs 50 crore in damages.
The action follows Saha's public allegations linking Ganguly to the controversial incident at the Yuva Bharati Stadium (Salt Lake Stadium) during Lionel Messi's GOAT India Tour visit to Kolkata on December 13.
Ganguly's complaint, filed at Lalbazar, said that Saha's statements have caused significant harm to his reputation and were made without any factual basis. The former India captain described Saha's remarks as "false, malicious, offensive, and defamatory" and accused him of acting knowingly to damage his reputation.
In response, Uttam Saha said he will respond to Ganguly. He added that he respects him as a great player, but if anything goes wrong on the football field, we will not spare anyone.
"We will give a reply to Sourav Ganguly, as this is a football ground, not cricket. He is a great player, and we respect him, but if anything wrong happens on the football ground, we will not spare anyone, whether it is Sourav Ganguly or anybody else," Uttam Saha said to ANI.
The controversy erupted after Messi's Kolkata appearance, the first stop of the GOAT India Tour 2025, descended into chaos, with fans alleging that VIPs and politicians crowded the pitch, preventing spectators from getting a clear view of the football icon.
Angry fans vandalised parts of the stadium, accusing organisers of poor planning and mismanagement. In the fallout, Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigned, and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee accepted it.
The state government has constituted an SIT comprising IPS officers Piyush Pandey, Javed Shamim, Supratim Sarkar and Muralidhar to conduct a thorough investigation.
Messi later completed the remaining legs of his India tour, visiting Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi, before departing from Jamnagar after a stop at the Vantara animal sanctuary.