Messi receives threatening note after family’s store attacked

Gunmen left a threatening message for Paris Saint-Germain forward Lionel Messi after attacking a supermarket owned by his wife’s family in Rosario, Argentina, Rosario police confirmed on Thursday.

Fourteen shots were reportedly fired at the shutters and front door of the food store “Unico,” which is located in the Lavalle district of Rosario, in the early hours of Thursday by two individuals on a motorbike. No one was hurt, but damage was done to the store.

Police also said the attackers left a threatening note written on a piece of cardboard that said: “Messi, we are waiting for you. Jarkin is a drug dealer. He is not going to look after you.”

An investigation is underway. Pablo Javkin is the mayor of Rosario, the largest city in the central province of Santa Fe, 300 kilometres north of Buenos Aires in Argentina.

After Thursday’s incident, Javkin spoke to reporters about the increase in violence in Rosario and the shortage of police and lack of protection in the city.

Javkin’s concerns are not new. He had voiced his frustration earlier this week about the lack of protection and the need for more policemen in a city where crime is on the rise.

Javkin tweeted: “Rosario is 300km [from Buenos Aires], it is near. We want to get all the resources against crime that Argentina has to take care of us, to protect this city that gives the country glory and science, countryside and art, federalism and union.”

Neither Messi, who on Monday won Best FIFA Men’s Player after captaining Argentina to the 2022 World Cup trophy, nor his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo — both are natives of Rosario — has commented on the incident.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.