Messi visit row: Keralam CM denies police disrupted news operations at Reporter TV office during searches
The Chief Minister of Keralam has denied allegations that police disrupted news operations at Reporter TV during a search related to a fraudulent FIFA World Cup event scheme. The investigation centers on a failed promise to bring Lionel Messi and the Argentina team to Kochi for a friendly match.
Why it matters
This highlights ongoing tensions between political parties regarding press freedom and the accountability of public officials in India.
Keralam Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Wednesday denied that the police disrupted news operations at the office of the Reporter Broadcasting Corporation (RBC) in Kochi. Mr Satheesan said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) had procured a search warrant from the concerned magistrate court to inspect the television channel’s office .
He noted that the search warrant was predicated on an FIR registered by the SIT in connection with its probe into the suspected conspiracy to defraud the government and Keralam’s football fans by falsely promising to secure the presence of the 2022 FIFA World Cup-winning Argentina team and its former iconic captain, Lionel Messi, for a friendly match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi in August 2025.
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