Topline
Gunmen left a threatening note for soccer star Lionel Messi at his in-law’s supermarket in Argentina Thursday, firing at least a dozen shots at the entrance of the store, police told the Associated Press.
Key Facts
At least two gunmen on a motorcycle shot at a Unico supermarket owned by the family of Messi’s wife Antonela Roccuzzo in Rosario, Argentina, a town less than 200 miles north of Buenos Aires early Thursday.
The assailants reportedly left a message on a piece of cardboard and said “Messi, we’re waiting for you. Javkin is also a drug trafficker, so he won’t take care of you,” according to the Associated Press, apparently referencing the mayor of the city, Pablo Javkin.
Javkin blamed the attack on rising drug-related crime in the city and told reporters he wanted help from the federal security forces with the city’s crime issues, according to the AP.
Aníbal Fernández, Argentina’s security minister, told reporters at the scene of Thursday’s attack that the “drug traffickers won” and that the incident was not isolated but a product of what’s happened “for the last 20 years.”
Messi, who according to a tweet from his current soccer team was in France at the time of the attack, has not commented on the incident, nor has his wife.
Key Background
In December, Messi led Argentina to a World Cup victory for the first time in 36 years, solidifying him as one of the greatest soccer players of all time. He was recognized for that achievement Monday when he won the Best Fifa Men’s Player award. Currently he plays for Paris Saint-Germain.
Tangent
Violence has plagued the town of Rosario: in the first four months of 2022 the Buenos Aires Times reported 90 drug-related homicides and so far in 2023, there have been 30 homicides in the Santa Fe province, home to Rosario, according to data collected by the federal Security Ministry.
Forbes Valuation
We estimate Messi made $130 million in 2022, making him the highest paid athlete of the year.
Further Reading
PSG’s Lionel Messi Receives Threatening Note After Family’s Store Attacked In Argentina (ESPN)
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