A former match official once admitted that he favoured Lionel Messi due to a rather unusual reason.
Cast your mind back to the Copa America of 2007. Alfio Basile was the manager of an Argentina side which featured a young Messi, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano.
The match in question was the semi-final of the tournament in which Argentina defeated Mexico 3-0 to secure a spot in the final.
Messi, former Real Madrid and Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze and Juan Román Riquelme all got on the scoresheet.
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Some fans claimed that Messi should’ve been booked, which would have meant he missed the final against Brazil.
The referee for the game was Carlos Chandia, who later revealed he decided against brandishing a yellow card towards Messi for a slightly odd reason.
"Out of nowhere, Messi lifts a ball and touches it with his hand, but in the middle of the pitch,” Chandia told ESPN FShow in 2024.
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“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 gave me the shirt in the dressing room afterwards,” he added. “In fact, he wanted to take it off on the pitch, and I told him: ‘No, no, no, no; take it to the dressing room.’ And he came to the dressing room with the jersey and left it there for me."
The former referee later claimed that his son now has the shirt but this came at a cost.
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"'I don't remember the number, but I remember the smell," Chandia told TNT Chile. "Not the best. My son has it now, he keeps it.
"The truth is that I think that because I didn't give him the yellow card, Brazilians ended up saying something and that's why I wasn't the main referee of the Copa America final."
Brazil went on to win the final 3-0 thanks to goals from Dani Alves, Julio Baptista and an own goal from Roberto Ayala.
Topics: Lionel Messi, Argentina, Copa America, Barcelona
Luke Davies