In the past fortnight, there has been a huge online debate to find out who the young boy in the plastic bag Messi 10 shirt was. Initially, the youngster was thought to be from Iraq but it was quickly corrected and it has now been revealed that the boy is Murtaza Ahmadi from Afghanistan.
Azim Ahmadi, an Afghan residing in Australia posted pictures of his nephew Murtaza Ahmadi who he says is the boy in the original photo and Argentine sports website TYC confirmed this news.
Messi and his support team have contacted the adorable young boy and are trying to set up a meeting between the pair. Murtaza who is from Ghazni, a rural area in the south of Afghanistan is eager to meet his idol and a meeting which currently has no date or time has been set up.
A spokesman from the Afghan football federation Syed Ali Kazemi has stated: “The leadership of the Afghan Football Federation (AFF) received emails from Lionel Messi and Barcelona regarding the meeting.” This is a heartwarming story coming from the strife and war riddled area of Afghanistan where football and cricket are the two main sports which are followed.
Lionel Messi is not only breaking records on the field but he is also making dreams come true. Interestingly, Murtaza is also a huge fan of Cristiano Ronaldo and the two best footballers of this generation can definitely be pleased with their positive impact and popularity all over the globe.
Policeman jailed for a month for posting Messi’s passport photo on Snapchat
From the good side of being known globally to the bad, a policeman in UAE has been jailed for a month for taking a photo of the Argentine superstar’s passport and posting it on popular media sharing app Snapchat.
The defendant who pleaded guilty gave his version of the story saying, “I waited for Messi’s arrival to take a photo with him … but his private escorts informed me that the player was tired and would not be able to take a photo. Thereafter I walked to the passport control’s office where I saw Messi’s passport on a desk. I grabbed the passport and opened it to the page that contained Messi’s personal details and took video images with my iPhone via Snapchat,”
The records show that the policeman along with uploading the image on Snapchat also posted the comment ‘This is Messi here in Dubai … what shall I do now? Burn his passport or let it go! Alas … I will let [it] go’.
The ruling remains subject to appeal within 15 days.
