An airport officer faces six months in jail after recording a video of himself with Messi’s passport, when the Argentinian star turned down his request for a picture.
Lionel Messi might be the most famous soccer player on the planet. The Barcelona star helped lead his club to a treble last season, winning the UEFA Champions League, Spains’s La Liga, and the Copa del Rey. As a result of his fame and success, he is constantly being asked by fans to take a picture or sign an autograph.
Even in Dubai, the 28-year-old is a household name, and he discovered that as soon as he touched down in December to attend the Globe Soccer Awards, where he was presented with the Best Player of the Year honor. An airport police officer had asked the star’s entourage if he could take a picture with Messi, but was politely declined.
However, he would not stop there, as he was eager to prove that he had indeed seen Messi at the airport.
“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,” the Dubai officer known as J.J. said, via Goal.
“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.”
While it may have seemed like an hilarious idea to record a video of Messi’s documents and send them to his friends on Snapchat, J.J. could now be facing up to six months in prison for the incident.
“His behavior is deemed a breach of Messi’s privacy because the passport is considered a private possession just like the details mentioned on it,” said Advocate Ali Abdullah Al Shamsi,
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Messi was ruled out for Barcelona’s Copa del Rey match against Athletic Bilbao, after picking up a slight hamstring injury on the weekend. The Catalans will be back in action on Saturday morning against Malaga.