Lionel Messi paid the wages of Argentine team's security staff out of his own pocket after hearing they had not received their salary for six months, according to reports
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi paid the wages of Argentine team's security staff out of his own pocket after hearing they had not received their salary for six months, according to reports.
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The Argentine Football Association is mired in an ongoing financial crisis amid allegations of corruption and mismanagement, Xinhua news agency reported.
Journalist Juan Pablo Varsky told Metro 95 radio that Messi was informed about the staff's plight before Argentina's World Cup qualifier against Brazil in Belo Horizonte last week. Varsky said: "Some members of the security team knocked on Messi's room door and said, ''Leo, we have to talk with you. For five or six months they have not paid us. The situation is complicated, you are captain of the team, you know us, we are asking for your help'."
According to Varsky, Messi immediately called his father, Jorge, and requested him to send the money for the unpaid staff. "When Messi finds out that someone revealed this, he will be furious, but it does not matter," said Varsky.