CM orders SIT probe into multi-crore Messi visit financial irregularities

WMV News Desk

KERALA Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan has directed the Home Department to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a comprehensive probe into alleged financial irregularities surrounding the failed attempt to bring Argentine football superstar Lionel Messi and the Argentina national team to Kerala.

The proposed visit, which generated enormous excitement among football fans, was eventually cancelled. The controversy has since escalated into allegations involving financial irregularities, tax evasion, questionable government procedures and the movement of large sums of money.

₹126-crore transaction under scrutiny

A major issue before the investigators is the sponsor's reported claim that around $15 million (approximately ₹126 crore) had been paid or arranged for payment to the Argentine Football Association (AFA) in connection with the proposed visit.

However, a Sports Department inquiry reportedly found no documentary evidence that the claimed ₹126 crore had actually been remitted to or received by the AFA. The inquiry also raised questions over the absence of a formal agreement between the AFA and the Kerala government.

The matter took another serious turn after the GST authorities detected an alleged ₹22.68-crore service-tax liability connected with the transaction. An earlier government-constituted SIT had already examined the tax issue.

Questions over sponsor selection

The Sports Department inquiry also reportedly questioned how the private sponsor was selected.

According to the findings reported by Onmanorama, a company that initially approached the government offering to bring the Argentina team to Kerala had been registered only about 20 days earlier and had a paid-up capital of just ₹1 lakh. The report also noted that the company shared an address with the company that later emerged as the event sponsor.

Questions have consequently been raised over why a tender or other competitive selection process was not followed before the sponsor was accepted.

Government correspondence under scanner

The SIT is also expected to examine official communications between the Sports Department, government officials, the sponsor and representatives associated with the AFA.

A Sports Department investigation reportedly found that much of the documentary trail consisted of email exchanges. There were also allegations that a routine communication was subsequently treated as evidence of an understanding with the AFA.

The role of officials and political functionaries involved in the proposed visit is therefore likely to come under scrutiny. The probe will seek to establish who authorised various decisions, how the sponsor was selected, whether government procedures were followed and what happened to the money reportedly connected with the proposed event.

Earlier tax probe

The government had already ordered an SIT under the GST Department to examine alleged tax evasion in the matter. That investigation was given powers to examine bank transactions, government records, accounts, registers and other relevant documents.

The latest decision to initiate a broader SIT probe indicates that the government wants the allegations examined beyond the tax issue, including the wider financial and administrative aspects of the proposed Messi visit.

Political controversy intensifies

The issue has also become a major political controversy in Kerala. The Opposition and the ruling front have traded allegations over the handling of the proposed visit and the financial transactions associated with it.

Chief Minister Satheesan had earlier said that the controversy had caused a loss of more than ₹22 crore to the state exchequer, while questioning the procedure through which a private company was allowed to enter into an arrangement connected with the Argentina Football Association.

The new SIT will now be expected to establish whether there was merely administrative negligence or whether the financial irregularities involved deliberate wrongdoing.

For football-crazy Kerala, the Messi episode began as a dream of watching the World Cup-winning Argentina team play on home soil. It has now turned into a major financial and political controversy, with investigators tasked with tracing the money trail and fixing responsibility for the alleged lapses.