Soccer star Lionel Messi, 35, who is thought by some to be the greatest soccer player of all time, received a chilling threat after police say two gunmen opened fire at a grocery owned by his wife’s family.
Two men reportedly fired at least a dozen shots at a Unico supermarket in Rosario, Argentina, Argentina’s third-largest city, early Thursday morning, police said. They left a message behind written on cardboard at the store owned by the family of Messi’s wife, Antonella Roccuzzo.
“Messi, we’re waiting for you. [Mayor Pablo] Javkin is also a drug trafficker, so he won’t take care of you,” the message stated.
Prosecutor Federico Rébola said a “preliminary” investigation into the incident had been launched. Javkin visited the crime scene after the incident and criticized federal authorities for their failure to stop violence related to drugs in Rosario.
“I doubt everyone, even those who are supposed to protect us,” he told reporters, adding, “Where are the ones who need to take care of us?”
“It’s clear that those who have the weapons and have the possibility of investigating the criminals aren’t doing it, and it’s very easy for any gang to carry out something like this,” he said.
In December, Messi led the Argentinian team to its first World Cup championship in 36 years in Qatar. Messi has won the Ballon d’Or award, emblematic of the world’s greatest player, a record seven times. Although he has a home in Rosario’s suburb Funes, Messi is often overseas.
“With the mafia attack on the Roccuzzo family’s business, knowing that it will be an event of global significance, the aim is to instill terror in the population and unease in those of us who are in the battle against criminal violence. It is, neither more nor less, the definition of terrorism,” tweeted Celia Arena, the justice minister for Santa Fe province, where Rosario is located.
Con el ataque mafioso al comercio de la familia Roccuzzo se busca, a sabiendas de que será un hecho de trascendencia mundial, infundir terror en la población y desazón en quienes estamos en la batalla contra la violencia criminal. Es, ni más ni menos, la definición de terrorismo.
— Celia Arena (@celiaarena) March 2, 2023
“In a situation of this scale, unifying efforts is not an alternative: it is an obligation,” she continued. “As has already been said on countless occasions, Rosario lives in an exceptional situation that demands exceptional responses. There are successful antecedents that allow guiding the action.”
Ante una situación de esta escala, unificar esfuerzos no es una alternativa: es una obligación. Como ya se dijo en incontables oportunidades, Rosario vive una coyuntura excepcional que exige respuestas excepcionales. Hay antecedentes exitosos que permiten orientar la acción.
— Celia Arena (@celiaarena) March 2, 2023
“In 2014, a massive landing of federal forces was ordered to occupy the territories hardest hit by drug violence. That pacification operation had positive results, even celebrated by the provincial government of that time. That is the way we need,” she concluded.
En 2014 se dispuso un desembarco masivo de fuerzas federales para ocupar los territorios más castigados por la violencia narco. Aquel operativo de pacificación tuvo resultados positivos, incluso celebrados por el gobierno provincial de entonces. Ese es el camino que necesitamos.
— Celia Arena (@celiaarena) March 2, 2023