Less than three months after helping Argentina win the World Cup in Qatar, Lionel Messi has been threatened by gunmen who opened fire on a supermarket owned by his wife’s family in Rosario, per the Associated Press.
The incident, which took place on Thursday, did not see anyone injured, while the assailants’ motives remain unclear.
According to police, two men on a motorcycle fired at least 12 shots into the Unico supermarket and left a message reading, “Messi, we’re waiting for you. [Pablo] Javkin is also a drug trafficker, so he won’t take care of you.”
Javkin, who is Rosario’s mayor, has since hit out at federal authorities. The mayor visited the scene in the wake of the gunfire and called out the lawmen’s ineffectiveness as it pertains to drug violence in what is Argentina’s third-largest city.
Messi had not commented at the time of writing and is in France, where he plays for Ligue 1 outfit Paris Saint-Germain. The club posted photos of the player in training to their social media pages on Thursday.
The Argentinian forward won FIFA’s Best Men’s player award this week and is likely to return home to play in two friendlies later this month.
Prosecutor Frederico Rebola noted that the authorities were reviewing camera footage, with investigations underway. He added that this was the first time Messi’s in-laws had received such threats.
