It's no secret 2013 has been a nightmare for Lionel Messi. And it just got worse.
His father Jorge Messi was recently accused of being involved in drug money laundering. Messi's representatives recently stated that the allegations were all invented by a Spanish newspaper called El Mundo.
"Jorge Messi has never been connected to the case," Leo Messi Management said in a statement, according to NDTV. "He has not been investigated or called to testify, much less charged.
"We hope that the newspaper El Mundo will correct the published story in line with the information released by the Interior Ministry," it said.
According to the report, a Colombian promoter was supposedly laundering money through concerts and sporting events in Spain, South America and the United States. This same promoter was involved in staging soccer games in South America and the United States that featured Lionel Messi. However, there is no evidence that the "Messi and Friends" games were involved with the money laundering in any way.
The report from El Mundo claims that players such as Messi, Dani Alves, Javier Mascherano and Jose Manuel Pinto were part of the investigation, but Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino has denied the claim.
"It is notable that when the football is going fairly well, just at that moment rumors like this appear. We should treat them as such and stick to the reality, which is that there is no investigation into anyone linked to the club."
Messi's 2013 has been mired by injury as well as a controversial case over tax evasion; his father was also a part of the tax evasion case that eventually ended in favor of the Argentinean superstar.
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