They reveal the plan to try to kill Messi during the World Cup: “I’m going to blow up Messi with four bombs strapped to my body”

A report by the U.S. police has revealed the security threats that both the FBI and the IPCC (International Police Cooperation Center) were responsible for neutralizing during the World Cup won by Spain. Among all of them, the threat of a suicide attack to kill Leo Messi stands out, the player who received the most threats throughout the entire tournament.

Before the match between Argentina and Jordan in the group stage, a man called Dallas airport and threatened to storm the stadium along with two other people carrying homemade bombs and an AR-15 rifle, explicitly mentioning Messi in order to kill him.

The threats were repeated again before the Argentina-Egypt round-of-16 match. “I’m going to enter Atlanta Stadium and blow up Messi with four bombs strapped to my body,” one of the suspects wrote on his social media. During that same match, the police received another call claiming the existence of three bombs inside several trash bins in the stands. It all turned out to be a false alarm after the entire stadium was searched with explosive-detection dogs.

Security failures involving Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo was also affected by a security issue at Portugal’s team hotel. According to the police report, FIFA reported to the FBI the presence of “a suspicious man” who was asking for “details” about Cristiano’s accommodation. Two days later, Houston police located and arrested that same man inside the hotel where the Portuguese national team was staying. Another individual was arrested in Toronto over a similar incident while trying to sneak into the elevator with Cristiano Ronaldo, claiming that he only wanted a selfie with CR7.

6,000 hate messages

The referees also suffered death threats. French referee François Letexier received more than 6,000 hate messages on his personal WhatsApp after officiating the controversial Argentina-Egypt match. The same happened to the VAR referee for that match, Willy Delajod. Due to the threats, it was necessary to reinforce the security of their homes and families in France.