A former referee has made a shocking revelation of how he refused to book Lionel Messi in return for the superstar’s match-worn shirt.
Carlos Chandia was the centre referee for the Copa America semifinal clash between Argentina and Mexico when he grabbed his opportunity to obtain a personal memento from one of the world’s greatest footballers.
Argentina were leading 3-0 courtesy of goals from Juan Roman Riquelme, Gabriel Heinze, and Messi himself. with only a few minutes left to play.
But despite being a few moments away from securing their place in the final, they were on the verge of being handed a huge disadvantage of losing Messi for the final after the attacker had handled the ball in the middle of the park.
Referee refuses to book Lionel Messi for card-worthy offense
However, Chandia, spared Messi, who was one booking away from missing the final, of the card-worthy offence, instead striking a deal with the superstar to receive his match-worn jersey in exchange for overlooking offense—an offer which the Barcelona legend welcomed with both arms.
“Out of nowhere, Messi lifts a ball and touches it with his hand, but in the middle of the pitch,” Chanida explained, peaking ESPN via SunSports.
“There was no goal-scoring chance for the Mexican team or anything like that. So, I told him: ‘This is a yellow card, but it will cost you your jersey,’ and I didn’t show him the yellow card.
“There were two-and-a-half minutes left, and the score was 3-0. Showing him a yellow card would have taken away his chance of playing in the Copa America final,” he added.
With Chandia revealing how he went against the grains to favour Lionel Messi, football fans, especially Cristiano Ronaldo’s, could use this to buttress their initial claims of the Argentine receiving special treatments from FIFA.
Despite Messi edging the Portuguese in recent years, having won the World Cup and more Ballon d’Or awards, his fans have argued that the Argentine superstar did not achieve most of his accolades on merit.
Recently, both players were excluded from the newly released Ballon d’Or 30-man shortlist for the first time in 21 years, spelling the end of an era.
However, the age-long GOAT debate doesn’t seem to be ending soon, with Nigeria’s Jay Jay Okocha being one of the latest to delve into the subject, as he picks who he believes is better between the two.
