Messi asserts innocence in letter to FIFA, says he was yelling 'to the air'
Argentina's mission to qualify for the 2018 World Cup is in jeopardy. Not only is La Albiceleste fifth in South America's two-year marathon, but Lionel Messi is suspended for three of the national team's final four games after insulting an assistant referee during Argentina's unconvincing win over Chile.
As the Asociacion del Futbol Argentina looks for a way to reduce the sanction, Messi is proclaiming his innocence.
On Thursday, Mundo Deportivo published a transcript of the letter Messi wrote to FIFA, in which the Argentinian genius denied offending an assistant referee and requested the disciplinary case be dismissed.
"I strongly deny having offended assistant referee 1 in the game versus Chile, and more so that my conduct fit article 57 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code," Messi wrote. "I admit the fact of having a dialogue with assistant referee 1, who is of Brazilian nationality and was within centimetres of myself, and who understood perfectly what I said, to the point that we have conversed in a friendly way without offending or hurting the referee at any moment. Proof of this is the assistant never called the principal referee, not even to warn him of my conduct."
Messi added: "It goes without saying that if any of my words have disturbed assistant referee 1 they were never addressed to him but were said to the air and I apologise for that."
In the eight 2018 World Cup qualifiers that Messi missed, Argentina won one, drew four, and lost three. By contrast, La Albiceleste won five and drew one of the six games in which he played. Four matchdays remain, and four national teams will qualify, while whoever finishes fifth will have to go through an inter-confederation play-off involving an opponent from Oceania.
Claudio Tapia, who was elected as the AFA's president on Wednesday, spoke about Messi's suspension after winning the presidency, saying: "The strategy for the Messi matter is to rebuild the relationship with FIFA; and we have the best team of lawyers working on the matter, looking to reduce the sanction."